Joe Redner is best known for fighting the government over his world-famous Mons Venus strip club, but he garnered headlines a few years ago fighting for the right to grow his own medical marijuana. He won the first round of that lawsuit but lost his appeal.
He still wants to grow his own and insists the court erred in its interpretation of the Florida Constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana. But he supports Amendment 3 on the November ballot that would legalize adult use of recreational marijuana even though it wouldn’t allow him to grow his own weed.
“Absolutely,” he said Tuesday (Dec. 7) on WMNF WaveMakers with Janet & Tom. “I’m going to support it because the more you have a right to it the better off you are.”
Redner said he doesn’t like how the amendment would give existing medical marijuana businesses the exclusive right to sell recreational weed. He fought the state law that created the existing system, which requires license holders to grow, process, package and distribute the marijuana they sell. He believes that approach is anti-competitive and illegal.
But he couldn’t beat them, so he’s applying for his own license. If he wins that, he can have more influence over the process, he says.
He considered ignoring the court ruling about personal cultivation.”I wanted to cultivate and then flaunt it and then go to court,” he said. “That’s what I always did.. I just went ahead and said let’s go. I want a jury to read this amendment and tell me I don’t have a right to grow my own marijuana.” But that would have hurt his effort to win a license so he dropped that.
Redner had a lot to say about Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state of craft beer–he owns Florida Avenue Brewing Co.–and why he’s supporting Joe Biden for reelection.
Hear the entire conversation by clicking the link below, going to the WaveMakers archives or by searching for WMNF WaveMakers wherever you listen to podcasts.
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