![]() Those initial conversations led Fried to decide she’d be one of the people to pick up the charge in Florida. However, an issue that seemed to come up all too often was that the nascent cannabis industry lacked people able to blend industry and governmental wisdom to help move the needle on reform. It was then that she heard the rumblings of reform were in the works. Nikki Fried wasn’t part of the legislature during the initial passage of medical cannabis in 2016 but did participate in the advocacy movement while working as a government consultant. All the while, regulatory proposals, namely THC caps, continue to pose challenges. Today, the state teeters on the verge of adult use legalization. In 2019, significant progress came with the inclusion of smokable flower in the program. Since 2014, the state has made incremental progress, first legalizing CBD oil, then expanding its medical program in 2016. Florida’s Ongoing Cannabis Reform Effortsįlorida represents a prime example of the benefits of ongoing cannabis reform. With a pro-pot policy, Fried is not afraid to educate and push back when necessary against opposition to the plant, including its governors-a position many expect her to run for in 2022. A liberal working amongst a pool of mostly conservative lawmakers, Fried has established herself as a rising star in the Sunshine State and the national stage without striking a partisan tone. Legalization remains an issue Nikki Fried and scores of Floridians continue to advocate for today. Fried remembers the debate, featuring a then- High Times editor and a DEA agent, marking the first substantive cannabis conversation during her time at school. In time, she would help bring a national great debates series to campus. She recalls NORML frequently demonstrating at the University of Florida as her first introduction to the movement. Her pro-pot policies would take shape in college during the ’90s and early 2000s. “I’ve always been pro-cannabis but didn’t really understand the movement ,” said Fried. ![]() Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried has always been pro-cannabis, and that isn’t going to change as she gains momentum in politics.įried jokes that growing up as a Jewish girl in Miami, obtaining cannabis was easier than alcohol.
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