Florida is no stranger to cannabis or cannabis events. With a rich history that includes coining the term “square grouper,” it should come as no surprise that a lack of legal cannabis hasn’t stopped people from enjoying the plant in both personal and social settings. A quick scroll through social media might suggest that regular “seshes” are normal and legal, when the reality is that the event space in Florida operates in a largely “don’t ask, don’t tell” manner.
Since 2015, cities and routines across the state have decriminalized possession and gifting of cannabis (without remuneration), which has led to an increase in the proclivity of these events. While these seshes and consumption events are by no means legal, cannabis laws are policed according to the nuisance you cause; if you don’t disturb the public or your neighbors, the authorities aren’t going to be going door-to-door looking for your. Within that being said, organizers like Koi Rosabo, founder of BLUNCHevents, advise anyone looking to throw a cannabis event to be familiar with laws. “The first thing I do is research what the current laws are in each state because they change regularly,” Rosabo says.
Florida does have a medical cannabis program in place, and it passed by 71%. The Florida Department of Health Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) oversees this program. Florida’s medical cannabis program has been criticized for its restrictive nature on both patient access to products as well as the ease of entry into the industry for interested businesses. The state only began allowing smokable products as recently as March of 2019, more than two years after Amendment 2 passed allowing legal medical cannabis. Rosabo stresses the importance of organizers ensuring that every attendee at a medical event is a medical patient, whether consumption is allowed or not. “Everyone that attends the event, they need to have a medical card…Any state like Florida that is not recreational, [guests] have to have their medical recommendation.”
Hosting Events
If you’re throwing a public cannabis event in Florida, it will almost certainly be a non consumption event. Even if it is a medical cannabis event, “the law specifies that medical marijuana may not be smoked in any public place and prohibits the medical use of marijuana by smoking in an “enclosed indoor workplace,” as defined in the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act.” Additionally, there is much debate as to the legality of C-B-D and hemp products, which were legalized on a federal level but remain the subject of confusion and arrests in Florida, in spite of the widespread availability at shops and supermarkets across the state.
Many are willing to go so far as including C-B-D in their Florida Events, such as Yoga classes and even national expos, but those aspects are still often treated as private events to minimize risk. If you’re planning on having consumption of any kind at your event, it will most likely have to be private. Even the events that Rosabo helps curate are largely private, even when C-B-D only. “If you want it to be in the up and up, you can only [use] C-B-D.” Chef Matt of CB Daily Eats reiterates this point as he recalls his cooking class at the C-B-D EXPO in Orlando in 2018. “We hosted cooking classes at the C-B-D EXPO and they went great. Had about 30 people in the private class but so many people found out about it at the expo that we ended up talking to a few hundred people who came by to check it out and it was only C-B-D.”
If you were to search major search engines or event calendars, you’ll find a growing number of of informational cannabis events such as conferences and networking expos to help introduce the industry to Florida and Florida to the industry. These largely focus on panels, speakers, and entertainment that speaks from experience in other legal markets or experience working with already-legal entities in the state. Conversely, if you were to search instagram or social media, you’d find a primarily consumption-focused event industry. While these appear professionally produced, the lack of legality and regulation surrounding them could mean they are as they seem, or could suggest further illegal activity, as many “seshes” in Florida have recently been the subject of robberies and scams.
Florida Cannabis Event Quick Facts:
Average Florida Event Ticket Cost: $88
Average Size of Event (# of Tickets Sold): 8
Consumptions vs Non-consumption Ratio: 76% Consumption / 24% Non-consumption
Top 5 event types in order: Art, Food & Drinks, Educational, Party, Meet Up. *The data has been collected from EventHi’s marketplace for Florida from 2018–2019
Working with Licensed Brands
Licensed brands in Florida are known as Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTC) who are allowed a certain amount of dispensing facilities, or dispensaries. There are currently 22 MMTC’s operating 121 dispensaries across the state. Nine of these MMTC’s are legally allowed to sell smokable marijuana. None of them are allowed to advertise in a public fashion or in an online setting that may target or be frequented by minors. None of their naming or logos can have identifying marks that would suggest or seem suggestive of underage or cartoony use. All advertisements and advertising initiatives must be approved by OMMU which means that it will be very hard to get an MMTC involved in events unless they can be verified to be 100% compliant. Rosabo advises working with a local brand, organizer or business as often as you can, as they will offer a following that can be attracted to your event and a familiarity with local laws and best practices for avoiding issues with venues or police.
