By MICHAEL C. PATTERSON
"Florida has the ability to become the eventual leader in cannabis science, research and development, and international trade of cannabis related products..."
As the global COVID-19 pandemic caused most U.S. businesses to close in March 2020, the medical cannabis industry has been deemed an “essential service” in almost every state in which medical cannabis is legal. The state of Florida is one of those states that have allowed medical cannabis dispensaries and businesses to remain open during the COVID-19 “lockdown.” This declaration is a tremendous victory for the legitimacy of medical cannabis being used a medicine, just like other pharmaceuticals that are sold in pharmacies (which are allowed to stay open as well). This declaration follows the same message as 40 other countries, in which medical cannabis is legal, have deemed the industry an essential service.
Psychological Impact
Why is this important for the medical cannabis industry? It has to do with legitimacy. For decades, politicians, lawmakers, and others around the world have demonized cannabis as everything from a “gateway” drug to testimony under oath to Congress in 1938 by Dr. James Munch, professor of physiology and pharmacology at Temple University, in which he said “I smoked cannabis and it turned me into a bat and I flew around the room.” Now, we have moved away from ideology and fear leading our cannabis policy, to facts and science. This “essential service” designation affects our society by legitimizing cannabis as a medicine, and psychologically prepares our society to accept the eventual realization that cannabis will be fully 100% legal in the US and many other countries around the world in the near future.
Economic Impact
From my recent trip in March 2020 to speak at the first-ever Medical Cannabis Conference in Ireland (immediately before the world shutdown), I was able to witness the beginning of the medical cannabis industry being viewed as a global commodity and opportunity for Ireland to develop this industry on a pharmaceutical level. This will create opportunity and jobs for its citizens and tax revenue for its country. Outside the United States, the world is moving forward with medical cannabis without U.S. guidance, intervention, and without exports of US product. This decision by the United States to keep cannabis illegal at the federal level is causing U.S. cannabis related businesses to miss out on opportunities for growth internationally, and decrease the USA’s ability to impact an emerging multi-billion-dollar global industry.
Future for Florida
The “essential service” designation for the Florida medical cannabis industry will speed up the talk and action to legalize recreational cannabis. As someone who has worked in healthcare all of my adult life, my personal feelings on recreational cannabis are that it is not my “fight” or purpose to lead a revolution for legalizing adult use cannabis. However, I know adult-use cannabis is coming and with it will come thousands of jobs and billions in tax revenue for smart states that realize cannabis is a commodity which will bring opportunity to its citizens.
Florida has the ability to become the eventual leader in cannabis science, research and development, and international trade of cannabis related products (once cannabis is legal at the federal level). Currently, Florida is one of the largest medical cannabis patient states with over 320,000 medical cannabis patients. The number of patients is expected to be over 500,000 by 2021.
When recreational cannabis is legalized, between the residents of Florida and tourists, we will see over two million monthly users of cannabis within the state. That number may shock some people, but when put in context with alcohol use by citizens of Florida, two million monthly users is a very low number. Florida has the potential to provide a distribution point for cannabis imports to come through our ports (creating jobs and tax revenue) and creating “Amazon” style distribution centers within the state to fulfill orders and ship across the USA.
Essential service designation, is the “straw” that will eventually break the “camel’s back” which moves cannabis into mainstream society. We as Floridians have a choice to allow others to benefit from the inevitable legalization of cannabis at the federal level, or we can begin to work together to create the future of the cannabis industry. As Tony Robbins once said, “Expect change. Analyze the landscape. Take the opportunities. Stop being the chess piece; become the player. Its your move.”
Michael C. Patterson, founder and CEO of U.S. Cannabis Pharmaceutical Research & Development of Melbourne, is a consultant for the development of the medical marijuana industry nationwide and in Florida. He serves as a consultant to Gerson Lehrman Group, New York and helps educate GLG partners on specific investment strategies and public policy regarding Medical Marijuana in the U.S. and Internationally. He can be reached at mpatterson@uscprd.com
