Tag: florida

Florida Lawmakers Vote To Raise Stripping Age to 21

Florida celebrated International Women’s Day last week by treating the state’s young women like children. On Friday, state lawmakers approved a bill banning 18- to 20-year-olds from being strippers or from working in any other capacity at an adult entertainment venue.

Like a similar bill passed in Texas in 2021, the Florida bill claims to be a blow against human trafficking. As with so many attempts to “protect” people from sex work, this one has major potential to backfire and make abuse and exploitation worse.

It’s also part of a growing movement across the U.S. to push up the boundaries of childhood, making all sorts of things once legal for 18- to 20-year-olds now off limits

Under the new measure, Florida adults under age 21 will be barred from working at strip clubs, burlesque establishments, adult bookstores, or any other businesses that fit under Florida’s definition of adult entertainment. Currently, people can do so legally upon turning 18.

On March 5, the Florida Senate voted nearly unanimously to raise this minimum age to 21. Only three senators voted no. A few days later, only three members of the Florida House voted against it.

The measure is now with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. If he signs it, the law will take effect July 1.

Young adult strippers and adult venue staff would not themselves be subject to penalty. Rather, the bill would make it a crime to knowingly employ, contract with, or otherwise permit someone under age 21 to work in these businesses.

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DeSantis Has A ‘Big Problem’ With Florida Marijuana Ballot Measure, Citing ‘Smells’ In Other Places That Have Legalized

With the Florida Supreme Court weighing whether to allow an adult-use marijuana legalization measure to be on November’s ballot, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday reiterated his stance against the policy change, complaining that letting adults legally consume cannabis could impact businesses and communities—including as the result of odor.

“I’ve gone to some of these cities that have had this everywhere, it smells, there’s all these things,” he told reporters, complaining that the proposal wouldn’t give government officials enough power to control when and where marijuana businesses operate—a claim backers of the initiative deny.

“I don’t want to be able to go walk in front of shops and have this, I don’t want every hotel to really smell,” he added, “I don’t want all these things. But if you’re saying you can’t regulate it or you can’t limit it—which, that’s how I read that—that could be a big, big problem.”

Despite his opposition to the initiative, DeSantis, the former GOP presidential candidate who dropped out of the race in January, has predicted that the state’s highest court will ultimately allow the measure on November’s ballot.

“I think the court is going to approve that,” the governor said at his final campaign event in New Hampshire earlier this year, “so it’ll be on the ballot.”

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Florida officer arrested for child pornography after first day on job

A newly sworn-in police officer in Florida was arrested for child pornography after his first day on the job.

The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said 19-year-old Kai Cromer was sworn in as a deputy on Monday, and by that night, a search warrant had been issued for his phone.

In a media briefing shared with Scripps News, Sheriff Eric Flowers said Cromer had been on call at a high school when “a brave young female came forward” and alerted police that the officer had been contacting her via Snapchat, asking for naked and topless photos.

She told police “she felt very uncomfortable just even seeing him on campus,” Flowers said.

The sheriff said an investigation began immediately.

The police department reviewed over 100 GB of data and arrested him on one count of possession of child pornography.

“Kai Cromer is no longer an employee of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office,” Flowers said Tuesday. “Our captain terminated him while he was in our cell.”

Flowers said a total of four victims have come forward, who are “very concerned for their safety.” They said Cromer had requested explicit photos and videos via Snapchat. 

“He was telling people, ‘I’m going to be law enforcement, I’m very powerful.’ He was forcing these girls, they said they were very uncomfortable with the entire circumstance, and they felt they had no choice but to do these things, and that’s just completely unacceptable,” Flowers said.

Flowers issued a plea for anyone who has spoken with Cromer via his Snapchat account, @KaiCromer, to come forward: “We need to talk to you.” 

He said there are also other victims they are aware of.

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Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill To Restrict Hemp Products And Ban Delta-8 THC, Sending It To DeSantis’s Desk

The Florida Legislature has approved a bill to regulate hemp-derived products in the state and eliminate delta-8 THC, which is banned in 17 states and severely restricted in seven more—though it is a popular item sold in retail establishments and people have used it for chronic illnesses.

Both chambers approved the legislation on Wednesday.

The Florida Senate passed the measure (SB 1698), sponsored by Polk County Republican Colleen Burton, unanimously, 39-0. That vote came just a few hours after a more contested vote in the House, where it was approved on a 64-48 vote.

For the past two years, the Legislature has worked on attempting to regulate the amount of THC in hemp-derived products. THC is the main component in cannabis that provides the psychoactive or “high” effect. The measure also bans the sale of all delta-8 products, one of the most popular items sold in retail establishments throughout the state over the past four years. And it also prohibits businesses from possessing hemp extract products that are considered “attractive” to children.

The measure says that the THC cannot exceed 5 milligrams per serving or 50 milligrams per package. Burton and the sponsor of the measure in the House, Manatee County’s Tommy Gregory, had originally set the limits at 2 milligrams per serving and 10 milligrams per package, but Gregory amended the limits earlier this week after taking input from the hemp industry.

Yet many of those who work in the hemp business in Florida say that those slightly increased THC caps are not going to be sufficient in terms of sustaining their economic vitality.

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NASA captures ‘eerie’ holes in clouds over Florida that have been linked to UFO reports and can be seen from SPACE

A chain of bizarre clouds just northwest of the Florida Keys looks like a giant floating jellyfish, or maybe the UFO from the sci-fi horror film ‘Nope.’

One fishing influencer posted a video of the clouds from below on TikTok, set to the theme music from Netflix‘s horror hit ‘Stranger Things.’ But, in reality, a well-known flying object was the cause: airplanes.

Captured from above late this January, by NASA‘s Terra satellite, the ‘Cavum clouds’ are ‘so odd that people sometimes argue they are signatures of flying saucers,’ according to the US Space Agency, which released the overhead image this week.

The true source of Cavum clouds, sometimes called ‘hole-punch clouds‘ and ‘fallstreak holes,’ had eluded scientists for nearly 70 years, until meteorologists finally cracked the case in 2010.

The strange shapes, they found, are produced when aircraft fly through ‘altocumulus clouds’ — patchy banks of small clouds that form between 7,000 and 23,000 feet up.

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Florida Legislature Passes Bill Banning Social Media for Kids Under 16, Raising Free Speech Concerns

The Florida Legislature passed a bill Thursday that would prohibit children under 16 from using social media — a ban free speech advocates say violates the First Amendment.

The bill in question, HB-1, passed the Florida Senate Thursday morning 23-14, on a mostly party-line vote, with 21 Republicans and 2 Democrats voting Yea, and 10 Democrats and 4 Republicans voting Nay, and 3 state senators not voting.

Shortly after 5 pm ET, the bill went back to the Florida House, where it had already passed in a previous form. The House voted to approve it once again, 108-7, with the 7 Nay votes all Democrats.

The text of the bill creates a new section in the Florida Statutes that requires social media platforms to prohibit minors who are younger than 16 years old from creating accounts, to “use reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of each account holder,” and to provide a disclaimer warning about social media being “harmful to mental health” and using “design features that have addictive qualities.” Violations of the law, if passed, would be deemed “an unfair and deceptive trade practice” and the state government can collect a civil penalty of up to $50,000 per violation. If a minor account holder asks for their account to be deleted, or a parent or legal guardian asks for a minor’s account to be deleted, and the platform does not comply with the request within the statutory deadline (5 or 10 days, respectively), it would be liable for $10,000 per violation, plus court costs and attorney fees.

The bill has attracted criticism from the right and left, one of several bills this session that have raised objections from free speech advocates and predictions that they cannot pass constitutional muster.

State Sen. Jason Pizzo (D) told Tampa area NBC affiliate WFLA he sympathized with parents’ concerns about the harmful effects of social media, himself the father of two teenage boys, but ultimately this is something that families, not government, needs to handle.

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Medical marijuana market balloons as Florida weighs recreational use

As Florida inches closer to recreational marijuana with a 2024 ballot initiative, the Sunshine State is looking to double the size of its medical marijuana industry within the next six months.

Florida’s $2 billion medical-only cannabis market is already the nation’s most lucrative — and the state Department of Health has just spiked the biennial license fee from $60,000 to $1.33 million to grow, process and sell the substance.

Florida’s medical-only market is also the nation’s largest — its patient roster is 15 times larger than it was 5 years ago when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Medical Use of Marijuana law that removed smoking restrictions.

Today, the Sunshine State is home about 872,000 patients with ID cards issued by 2,741 physicians filled at 618 dispensaries, according to the state’s top marijuana regulator.

Citing a 71% increase in active patients over just the past two years, Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use is now hoping to process 22 more medical cannabis licenses by this summer, which would nearly double the number of operators.

A medical marijuana card costs $75 each time it is issued or renewed, which is required every six to seven months.

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Florida Deputy Resigns After Mistaking Acorn for Gunshot and Opening Fire on Own Patrol Car with Suspect Inside: “Shot’s Fired… I’m Hit!”

A deputy from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, identified as Jesse Hernandez, has resigned following an internal investigation into an officer-involved shooting incident that took place on November 12 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

The bizarre incident began when Hernandez and his colleague, Sgt. Beth Roberts, discharged several rounds into a patrol car, mistakenly believing they were under fire after an acorn fell onto the vehicle, simulating the sound of a suppressed gunshot, the Northwest Florida Daily reported.

The incident unfolded when deputies were responding to a disturbance involving a suspect, Marquis Jackson, 22, who was later detained and placed inside the patrol car.

Miraculously, the suspect, secured inside the car, was unharmed despite the barrage of bullets. No weapon found in his possession. The only casualty of this incident? The acorn and the deputy’s career.

Sheriff Eric Aden, in a statement, confirmed Hernandez’s resignation and noted that although he was found to have violated policy, neither deputy faced criminal charges.

Sgt. Roberts, who joined in the impromptu shootout, was cleared of any wrongdoing, as she was acting in defense of her partner.

“The internal investigation by Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Professional Standards ultimately determined his use of force during a call on November 12th was not objectively reasonable. A policy violation regarding excessive use of control to resistance was sustained,” according to Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

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Man Arrested For Doing ‘Burnouts’ on LGBTQ Pride Crosswalk

A 19-year-old man in Florida was arrested for doing ‘burnouts’ on an ‘LBGTQ Pride’ crosswalk, an action that police said vandalized a “symbol of unity and inclusivity for the LGBTQ community”.

A video clip shows Dylan Brewer performing burnouts on the Delray Beach mural in his truck, which appears to have a stylized American flag hanging out of the back.

Audio accompanying the video features someone saying “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” repeatedly as Brewer creatively drives over the rainbow-colored intersection.

Oh no! How terrible!

Police said in a statement that the “reckless action caused significant damage to the streetscape painting, which serves as a symbol of unity and inclusivity for the LGBTQ community.”

Law enforcement spent a week investigating the heinous crime after multiple people provided them with reports and cellphone footage of the crime of the century.

“Brewer turned himself in on Monday. Palm Beach County jail records show he was released from custody the next day after posting a $5,250 bond on charges of felony criminal mischief and reckless driving,” reports Local 10.

The intersection was previously ‘damaged’ during a similar incident in 2021 when 20-year-old Alexander Jerich was hit with the same charges and later sentenced to probation and community service.

But it could always be worse.

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Ahead Of Legalization Vote, Florida Senate Panel OKs Proposal To Limit THC In Adult-Use Marijuana Products

Florida’s Senate Committee on Health Policy advanced a bill on Tuesday that would preemptively limit THC levels in adult-use marijuana products. The change would restrict products allowed under a recreational cannabis legalization ballot initiative that organizers are working to put on November’s ballot.

The bill, SPB 7050, would prohibit dispensary sales of marijuana flower with a potency of greater than 30 percent THC. All other cannabis products would be limited to 60 percent THC. It would also set a serving size on edible products of 10 milligrams THC or less, with the total amount per package no more than 200 mg.

“This is setting the stage and recognizing that should the amendment pass—should it be on the ballot and should the amendment pass—that we will continue to have a medical marijuana market and we would have a personal use market,” said Sen. Colleen Burton (R), who chairs the committee and who spoke in favor of the committee’s proposed THC limit bill. “The potencies and quantities that you see in the recommended language today are based upon keeping that separate.”

As more states have legalized marijuana and highly concentrated THC products become more widely available, some have raised concerns about apparent associations between high-THC products and mental health problems, especially in developing brains.

On the House side, that chamber’s Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee last week advanced a bill, HB 1269 from Rep. Ralph Massullo (R), that would set the same preemptive THC limits on recreational marijuana.

At Tuesday’s Senate panel hearing, Sen. Gayle Harrell (R) referenced studies indicating an association between high THC cannabis products and mental health issues like psychosis and schizophrenia, especially in youth.

“When I look at the medical evidence out there and the dangerous impact that high-potency THC has, it is overwhelming,” she argued, adding: “I can tell you, the high risk of schizophrenia is sixfold with high levels of THC.”

Other members expressed mixed feelings on the bill. Sen. Rosalind Osgood (D), who said she was 13 when she smoked her first joint—a decision she said led her to “be on the streets, homeless, with other addictions”—said she supports limiting the strength of mind-altering substances.

But rather than take up THC levels in the standalone measure, she said, “I would have preferred to have this bill at another time, after voters have made a decision, to comprehensively look at all the different arms that go toward this.”

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