Local legislator pushes bill to legalize recreational marijuana

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Later this year, Florida voters will decide whether to legalize medical marijuana, but one local lawmaker is pushing a bill that would make it legal to smoke pot for fun.
 
Right now, Colorado and Washington are the only two states where non-medical marijuana is legal. Randolph Bracy wants Florida to join that list.
 
"Currently we have no oversight as to what's going on with this product," Bracy said, who represents District 45 in the Florida legislature.
 
That oversight is what Bracy spells out in his 54-page bill.
 
In the bill, Bracy calls for regulation and oversight, prohibiting the sale and possession by people under 21 and creating an enforcement trust fund that would be paid for through marijuana sales. 
 
"This product, if it were to pass, would be heavily regulated by the state," said Bracy.
 
In November, Channel 9 exposed just how wide-open California's medical marijuana business has become, making it easy for patients to claim medical ailments to obtain pot.
 
Bracy said the time is now for Florida to meet the issue head-on and create the checks and balances to stop people from cheating the system.
 
"It would move the product out of the hands of street dealers and into the hands of legitimate business owners," said Bracy. 
 
Bracy said he does not expect his bill to make it to the floor, but he said that sooner or later he expects Florida will pass a recreational-marijuana law.

WFTV