“Florida man” is at it again. This time, Florida man has taken the shape of a guy busted by cops after trying to trade a bag of weed for a McDonald’s order. Although the person who was caught for attempting to make the trade said the whole thing was a joke, cops apparently did not see it that way.
Trying to Trade Weed for McDonald’s
At approximately 2 a.m. this past Sunday, a man in Port St. Lucie, Florida placed an order at a local McDonald’s drive-thru. When he pulled up to pay and pick up his food, the man apparently offered the McDonald’s workers a bag of weed instead of money.
Unfortunately for the customer, the McDonald’s employees weren’t interested in the trade. In fact, they went well beyond simply turning down the offer.
As soon as the man left, workers at the restaurant reportedly called the cops. They described the car he was driving as a four-door Pontiac sedan. And they also gave the cops a description of what the driver looked like.
According to the Port St. Lucie Police Department’s Facebook page, cops remained on the scene for a short time after receiving the McDonald’s employees’ call.
While they were still at the restaurant, a car matching the description suddenly showed up. And sure enough, it was the same guy.
He reportedly drove back through the drive-thru. But this time he did not try to make any transactions involving weed.
Despite that, police officers approached the car and began talking to the man, later identified as 23-year-old Andrew Gallagher. The officers who approached the car reported a strong smell of cannabis coming from his vehicle.
They eventually found 11 grams of marijuana in Gallagher’s possession. As a result, Gallagher was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana under 20 grams and a DUI. Gallagher was then booked into the St. Lucie County Jail.
Cannabis in Florida
As evidenced in Gallagher’s story, weed is clearly still illegal in Florida. With that said, cannabis has been a consistently pressing issue for many Florida lawmakers and advocates. In particular, the state has been seeing a decent amount of activity on the medical marijuana front.
Voters first approved the legalization of medical marijuana back in 2016. Subsequently, the new laws went into effect on January 3, 2017.
And although the new legislation made it possible for patients with a qualifying health condition to access medical cannabis, later legislation introduced a number of restrictive changes.
Most notably, the Florida Legislature banned smokeable forms of medical cannabis. This ignited a long drama in which the state was eventually sued for its attempt to ban smokeable marijuana.
Eventually, in May of this year, a Florida judge ruled that such a ban is unconstitutional. Immediately following the ruling, the Florida Health Department said it would appeal the decision.
In addition to these ongoing questions about smokeable marijuana, the state is also facing challenges to a cap on the number of dispensaries the state will allow to operate. Most recently, a judge ruled that it was unconstitutional for the state to try and cap the number of dispensaries.
These and other related questions remain ongoing in Florida.
