It has been five years since Floridians approved medical marijuana and there are still no black weed farmers in the state.

Granted, there are very few licenses that have been distributed, but the amendment that passed five years ago specifically declared that a member of the Black Farmers Association would have a license reserved for them.

Last week, the Florida Department of Health finally decided to set aside a license specifically for a black farmer. There is just one major issue with this.

It now cost more than twice as much as it did to get a cannabis license in Florida. Back when cannabis was first legalized in 2016 it was only $60,000 to apply for a license, now it costs $146,000.

There are only about 2000 members of the Black Farmers Association in Florida, raising the price of the license this high locks a bunch of them out. The Department of Health claims the price went up due to the extensive documentation needed to review the license.

Next year the Department is to issue more licenses to the general public, it is unclear if the price will remain that high.