Alan Williams just relinquished his role as a Florida State Representative from Tallahassee and has now elected to lobby the executive branch for a medical marijuana company. Florida’s medical marijuana program is still in its developmental stage and AGRiMED, the company Williams will be lobbying for, is looking to eventually participate in the network of companies here in the sunshine state.
How important do you think the medical marijuana industry is, if Alan Williams is willing to dedicate some of his valuable time working to push cannabis in the right direction?
Former state Rep. Alan Williams has signed up to lobby for AGRiMED Industries, a medical marijuana company based in Philadelphia that hopes to break into the Florida market.
Williams, who was term-limited out of office last year after serving eight years in the House, is prohibited from lobbying lawmakers for two years after leaving the Legislature. But he’s allowed to lobby the executive branch, which he signed up to do last week. POLITICO Florida first reported the story.
AGRiMED, a black-owned firm, was among a dozen companies awarded permits in June to grow and process medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. The company, which also has begun operations in Puerto Rico, hopes to get licenses in states including Arkansas, Ohio and Florida, its owners have said.
The Florida Legislature passed a law in 2014 allowing the use of low-THC marijuana for medicinal purposes and the creation of seven licensed growers. Lawmakers passed a more expansive measure in June, allowing for 10 more licensed growers by October. The new law followed overwhelming passage of a constitutional amendment on medical marijuana last year.
Williams, who joined Tallahassee law and lobbying firm Meenan P.A. earlier this year, said the company hasn’t applied for a license in Florida yet but “will pursue those opportunities as they present themselves.” He said emerging public policy on medical marijuana can be transformative for patients in Florida and across the country.
“The company is a great firm,” Williams said. “They are at their core focused on the medicinal aspect of cannabis and what benefits it can have for the patients who will receive it, both seniors and most of all the children who have some very serious ailments that medicine up to this point has not been able to resolve.”