Florida Sen. Joe Gruters took some of the buzz out of his proposal to allow people to grow small amounts of marijuana for personal use.
The Sarasota Republican doesn’t see legislative leaders moving forward with the idea when the Legislature opens its annual session March 4.
Gruters filed the bill (SB 546) after a proposed constitutional amendment about allowing recreational use of marijuana did not pass in November.
“I hope to move it, but there's not a lot of interest in my Republican colleagues to move anything related to marijuana whatsoever,” Gruters said told News Service of Florida’s “Deeper Dive with Dara Kam” podcast.
The proposal would allow medical-marijuana patients who are at least age 21 to apply to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for certificates to grow up to two cannabis plants. The plants would have to be located where they couldn’t be easily seen from the street or neighboring property.
Gruters equated home-grown marijuana to people being able to make their own beer.
“If you really want to do that stuff and you want to take the time, then by all means, go and do it as long as you do a regulated way, to where nobody else is getting hurt and you're taking responsibility.” Gruters said.