Tag: florida

Bill Banning Geoengineering And Weather Modification Passes Florida Senate

The Florida Senate passed a bill prohibiting geoengineering and weather modification by a vote of 28-9, Thursday. SB-56, dubbed the “chemtrails bill” by the media, prohibits “the injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of a chemical, a chemical compound, a substance, or an apparatus into the atmosphere within the borders of this state for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, weather, climate, or intensity of sunlight.”

The bill also requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to set up a system where residents can report “suspected geoengineering activities” and directs the FDEP to investigate those claims, WFLA reported.

Geoengineering, or climate engineering is defined as “the intentional large-scale alteration of the planetary environment to counteract [alleged] anthropogenic climate change.”

Florida’s bill banning the practice must now be approved in the Florida House, which has its own watered down version.

If a bill passes, Florida would become the second state in the nation to ban geoengineering. Tennessee passed its own bill banning geoengineering and weather modification in 2024.

Over two dozen other states, including Kentucky, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Wyoming, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Missouri, and Maine have introduced similar legislation in 2024 or 2025, and are pending further action.

The Tennessee law went into effect July 1, 2024. Florida’s legislation is set to take effect on July 1.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Ileana Garcia, said the legislation became necessary after her constituents repeatedly voiced concerns about unknown entities altering the atmosphere in Florida without their consent.

“Many of us senators receive concerns, complaints on a regular basis regarding these condensation trails, aka chemtrails,” Garcia said in a committee hearing last month. “There’s a lot of skepticism.”

“I have a problem with people spraying perfume around me sometimes, don’t you have a problem with people spraying things into the atmosphere that really have no type of empirical data, that you just don’t know who they are or what they’re doing?” Garcia said Thursday.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo expressed support for the Senate Bill on Wednesday.

“Big thanks to Senator Garcia for leading efforts to reduce geoengineering and weather modification activities in our Florida skies,” Ladapo posted on X. “These planes release aluminum, sulfates, and other compounds with unknown and harmful effects on human health. We have to keep fighting to clean up the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.”

Keep reading

Florida Officials Say Marijuana Legalization Campaign Committed ‘Multiple Election Law Violations’

Florida officials have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the campaign seeking to place a marijuana legalization initiative on the state’s 2026 ballot, alleging that the group has “committed multiple election law violations.”

The Office of Election Crimes and Security (OECS)—part of Florida’s Department of State—also fined Smart & Safe Florida more than $120,000 for submitting completed petitions more than 30 days after they were signed.

The issue has been referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a “potential criminal investigation.”

The campaign was behind last year’s Amendment 3 legalization ballot measure, which failed to win the required 60 percent approval to become law, and is now working to qualify a revised constitutional amendment for next year’s ballot.

Among the claimed violations listed in the letter are that Smart & Safe Florida failed to provide the official text of the proposed constitutional amendment to voters when obtaining signatures as well as that it delivered “forged or fraudulent petitions”—such as one “purportedly signed by a Florida voter in February 2025, when, in fact, that voter has been deceased since November of 2024.”

In a statement to Marijuana Moment, a campaign representative said it has confidence in the process and intends to push back on the state’s assertion it violated election law.

“The claims made appear to be a targeted effort to thwart the ability for the people of Florida to express their support of a citizen-driven amendment,” the statement says. “We stand by the process and had legal counsel vet all forms and communications prior to mailing and look forward to challenging the validity of these claims.”

Other violations claimed by OECS assert that the campaign circulated non-approved petition forms “in a manner that has created the opportunity for fraud and has led to dozens of Florida voters completing and submitting multiple…petitions” and that it submitted completed petitions after a state-mandated deadline.

The letter demands “an immediate accounting of any and all petition forms that were obtained in response to one of your mailed packages that you or your agents have turned in” and further mandates that Smart & Safe Florida “immediately cease the mailing, use, or circulation of non-approved petition forms.”

“Initiative efforts must be undertaken in compliance with the law,” the document says. “The issues raised in this letter are serious and could serve to undermine public confidence in the initiative process.”

Keep reading

Rep. Cory Mills Introduces Legislation to Block Illegal Aliens from Ever Obtaining U.S. Citizenship

Florida Rep. Cory Mills has introduced legislation to block illegal aliens from ever obtaining U.S. citizenship.

The No Citizenship for Alien Invaders Act aims to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to “protect American sovereignty by ensuring that illegal immigrants cannot exploit the U.S. immigration system,” according to Rep. Mills.

If passed, the bill would add the line, “No alien who enters the United States unlawfully shall be eligible for naturalization, notwithstanding any other provision of the immigration laws,” to the end of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“Under the Biden administration, we saw more than 10 million encounters at our borders, a crisis exacerbated by reckless catch-and-release policies that allowed criminals who broke our laws to remain in the United States,” said Congressman Mills in a press release.

Mills continued, “President Trump has made it clear that anyone that tries to unlawfully undermine, exploit, or bypass our immigration system is a criminal. The No Citizenship for Alien Invaders Act will ensure these criminals will never be granted U.S. citizenship, that privilege will be reserved for those who respect our laws.”

The bill’s cosponsors include Reps. Josh Brecheen, Andy Harris, and Anna Paulina Luna.

Rep. Brecheen said of the bill, “America is a nation of laws, and if we allow those laws to be subverted by illegal aliens who have no constitutional right to be here in the first place, then we will cease to be a nation. The No Citizenship for Alien Invaders Act prevents illegal aliens from being rewarded with citizenship after breaking our laws. It’s time we get back to common sense policies that restore law and order to America.”

Illegal aliens can currently pursue citizenship through various pathways, such as marriage to a U.S. citizen, asylum claims, or special programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This bill would eliminate those options.

According to Pew Research, over 22 million illegal aliens are living in the U.S.

Keep reading

Florida House And Senate Panels Pass Bills To Criminalize Sales Of Psychedelic Mushroom Spores

Agricultural legislation in Florida containing a provision to outlaw psychedelic mushroom spores has proceeded past two more lawmaking panels in the House and Senate.

The proposed ban on spores of mushrooms that create psilocybin or psilocin is part of roughly 150-page companion bills that would make a variety of adjustments to Florida’s agricultural laws, including around agricultural lands, utilities and wildlife management.

With respect to psychedelic mushrooms, both would outlaw transporting, importing, selling or giving away “spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.”

Violating the proposed law would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum one year in jail and $1,000 fine.

On Wednesday, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee passed HB 651, from sponsor Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R), on a 14–4 vote. Prior to the vote, the body adopted an amendment that simplifies the language of the psychedelic spore prohibition but doesn’t meaningfully change it.

Tuck explained to members at the hearing that the change “restructures” the language “to simplify the prohibition without changing the substance of the underlying bill.”

Later in the day, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government favorably reported SB 700, by Sen. Keith Truenow (R).

While senators didn’t discuss the bill’s spore provision at the hearing, one public commenter, identified as Daniel Freeman, opposed it.

Keep reading

Was that a UFO above this Florida town Saturday? Shape-shifting object has some wondering

A shape-shifting, slowly turning object hovered high above Green Cove Springs on Saturday afternoon, leaving many to speculate about it.

The morphing, black object was high above just west of U.S. 17 and south of County Road 315, slowly heading south. It made no noise and was at least a few hundred feet off the ground.

At times the shape was like a spacecraft while it also looked like a turtle shell, a ball inside with white outline that almost looked like a mouth and teeth.

Keep reading

Florida Lawmakers Approve Bills To Outlaw Psychedelic Mushroom Spores

Florida House and Senate panel have approved sweeping agriculture legislation that, among other changes, would explicitly outlaw the distribution of psychedelic mushroom spores and mycelium.

Members of the House Housing, Agriculture and Tourism Subcommittee voted at a hearing Tuesday to advance a bill, HB 651, from sponsor Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R). The nearly 150-page measure would make a variety of adjustments to Florida’s agricultural laws, including around agricultural lands, utilities and wildlife management.

With respect to psychedelics mushrooms, it would make it illegal “to transport, import, sell, offer for sale, furnish, or give away spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.”

Violating the proposed law would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

A companion bill, SB 700, which contains the same mushroom provisions, has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Keith Truenow (R). It was amended and approved unanimously last week by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government.

Prior to reporting the bill favorably on Tuesday, the House panel adopted a striking amendment that made a number of changes to the underlying bill, though the amendment did not substantively affect the provision dealing with spores and mycelium.

Psilocybin and psilocin are the two leading psychoactive compounds in psychedelic mushrooms. Although spores typically do not contain psilocybin or psilocin themselves, they eventually produce fruiting bodies—mushrooms—that do contain the psychedelic compounds.

Because the spores don’t contain any controlled substances, the federal government deems them legal.

“If the mushroom spores (or any other material) do not contain psilocybin or psilocin (or any other controlled substance or listed chemical), the material is considered not controlled,” Terrence Boos, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section chief, said in a memo last year. (Using a similar rationale, Boos has said that marijuana seeds are considered federally legal hemp because they themselves don’t contain THC.)

In Florida, a legislative report for HB 651 similarly notes that “spores do not contain any psilocybin properties themselves and therefore could be considered legal under current law.”

To prevent that, the proposal would clarify as illegal any spores or mycelium that could produce psilocybin or psilocin at any time in their development.

Members of the House panel did not mention the broad agriculture legislation’s psilocybin provisions during Tuesday’s hearing.

Keep reading

Florida Man Busted by Secret Service and Local Authorities After Posting a Shocking Threat Against President Trump During Wild Social Media Rant

The United States government and the state of Florida are not messing around when it comes to demented individuals threatening the life of President Trump.

As WPBF reported, a 42-year-old Florida man from St. Lucie County was busted by both the Secret Service and sheriff’s deputies on Monday afternoon after posting a disturbing threat against Trump on social media during a wild social media rant.

Kendal Aaron Todd began his 80-second tirade by making a series of confusing accusations against Trump, including calling him the “Antichrist.”

“Because of Donald Trump, every single person in the world is cursed,” Todd begins. “Donald Trump is the Antichrist.”

“Donald Trump has personally made business decisions which have hurt so many different reincarnated Jesuses,” he adds.

Todd goes on to issue this shocking threat against the president, which calls his mental health further into question.

“Fight me naked to the death!” Todd said. “I’m going to cut you up with a chainsaw and put you in acid.”

Keep reading

Florida Senate Panel Takes Up Bill To Restrict Hemp Products

For the third year in a row, Florida lawmakers have begun debating a proposal to regulate THC-derived hemp products, which have evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry in the Sunshine State.

In addition to banning Delta-8 products and restricting the amount of Delta-9 THC levels in hemp products to 5 milligrams per serving and 50 milligrams per package, the latest proposal from Polk County Republican Sen. Colleen Burton (SB 438) includes for the first time regulations on hemp-infused drinks, which have surged in popularity over the past year.

The proposal would restrict the amount of THC per bottle or cans to no more than 5 milligrams. It would ban those drinks being sold at any locations other than ones already licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, adding additional prohibitions and requirements.

“Liquor stores and restaurants that would like to sell these products, they have come to us and asked us to provide some regulations so that they know that the products that they are selling have gone through the rigor of the testing and will all be held to the same standards,” Burton said in introducing the bill to the Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday afternoon.

But that provision received some pushback.

“Requiring us to carry a liquor license when we’re a non-alcoholic bottle shop kind of goes against what we built,” said Caitlyn Smith, co-owner of Herban Flow in St. Petersburg, which bills itself as Florida’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop.

Her husband and co-founder, Michael Smith, said that he is five years’ sober and the last thing that he wants is for his store to be regulated as a liquor store when it isn’t one.

Keep reading

Bill Lowering Minimum Age for Rifle Purchases Passes FL House Committee

Legislation to lower the minimum rifle purchase age from 21 to 18 passed a Florida House committee on Wednesday.

The legislation, House Bill 759, is sponsored by state Reps. Michelle Salzman (R) and Tyler Sirois (R).

The minimum age for rifle purchases was raised from 18 to 21 in the wake of the February 14, 2018, Parkland high school shooting, and many Republicans legislators in the state are ready to remove the restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of 18 to 20-year-olds.

Orlando Weekly quoted Gun Owners of America’s Luis Valdes speaking in support of HB 759: “As a father, I want my daughter to be armed when she’s under the age of 21 and she’s living outside of my house and she’s able to protect herself, because right now this [law] disarms women, disarms our college students, and disarms our children.”

State Rep. Dianna Hart (D) opposed HB 759, saying, “We say brains are not developed until you’re 25, but we want to hand 18-year-olds long guns.”

Hart did not mention that out nation gives hand grenades, fully automatic rifles, and other weapons to 18-year-olds who sign up for the military.

Keep reading

MAGA Florida Homeowner Fined $60K for Massive Trump Banners Beats County in Lawsuit

A MAGA-loving Florida homeowner won a lawsuit against Walton County this month after racking up more than $60,000 in unpaid fines for hanging massive pro-Trump banners for several years on the side of his house on County Road 30A.

Walton County code compliance officials told homeowner Marvin Peavy that his various Trump banners violate the scenic corridor code after someone filed a complaint, WJHG reported. Peavy refused to take his banners down, and the county began fining him $50 daily for his displays. Peavy argued the county code violated his First Amendment rights. 

“Their laws cannot supersede my First Amendment right, so they came after my constitutional rights which they cannot do. It woke me up as a patriot,” Peavy told NewsChannel 7 in November. “I’m very happy that they came after me and I woke up, I’ve got great lawyers. We feel very good about what’s going on. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that you can have signs on your home. They cannot do anything about it.”

Keep reading