ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Medical marijuana. (Credit: News Service of Florida) Veterans, parents and medical cannabis operators are pushing back against a House plan that would limit how high Floridians can get when they smoke medical marijuana, saying proposed THC levels would drive patients to the black market. The House plan would cap THC levels in smokable medical marijuana at 10 percent, a level the sponsor of the legislation maintains is based on science but which patients and advocates contend is too low. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana that produces a euphoric effect. The House Health & Human Services Committee on Wednesday approved the measure (PCB HHS 19-02), with Chairman Ray Rodrigues saying the cap is grounded in studies that found high levels of the euphoria-inducing cannabinoid were not effective in treating pain. Other studies linked smoking high-THC marijuana with psychosis, Rodrigues said. “We believe that there’s science that shows greater than 10 percent THC has been linked to harmful effects, so that’s why we’ve chosen the 10 percent limit. There’s also science out there that has shown that less than 10 percent is effective for medical purposes, and so we have used that as the delineation,” Rodrigues, R-Estero, said. The committee vote came about three weeks after lawmakers — many of them, like Rodrigues, reluctantly — succumbed to pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis and overwhelmingly voted to repeal the state’s ban on smokable medical marijuana. The Republican governor quickly signed the repeal into law, and several medical marijuana operators immediately began selling whole-flower cannabis to patients throughout the state for smoking. The bill also includes a provision that would allow veterans to get free medical-marijuana patient identification cards, which currently cost patients and caregivers $75 each year. Waiving the fee for vets, however, drew the wrath of some patients who accused Rodrigues of using veterans as “scapegoats” for the controversial THC levels included in the bill. “This is going to harm us,” Tanya Bailey, a veteran with the group “Vets for Buds,” told the panel. Bailey said she and others are already using whole-flower products with THC levels of between 8 and 24 percent for vaping. She fears vets will “end up in jail” for possession of illegal marijuana if the bill passes. “We need our medicine. We don’t know what to do,” Bailey said. “I have to oppose any amendment that’s going to ride on our backs to lower to 10 percent.” Patients hailed the repeal of the smoking ban, in part, because whole-flower cannabis is much cheaper than processed products, such as tinctures and oils. But lowering the THC levels for smokable cannabis will drive up prices for patients, argued lobbyist Ron Watson, who represents one of the state’s medical marijuana operators, AltMed Florida, also known as MüV. “Strangely enough, if you’re trying to discourage people from smoking, you’re encouraging them to smoke more because if they are approved for this route, it will take more for them to get the same results, and the price will go up,” Watson said. Watson was among those who questioned the 10 percent THC level, which many complained was arbitrary. Most of the plants grown by the state’s medical marijuana operators range between 15 and 24 percent THC, according to industry insiders. “We have a hard time believing that 9.9999 percent is medical and 10.0001 percent is not. We question the line in the sand at that number,” Watson said. “I do believe that if we pass this, it’s going to strengthen the black market and we’re trying to do everything we can to move away from that.” But Rodrigues defended his plan, which was approved in a 12-5 vote. “Our job as policy makers is to ensure that we are passing policy that is beneficial to our citizens and protects them from harm,” he said. “We rejected the low-THC caps of the 14 states that had set their caps so low that their residents aren’t getting the benefit of medical marijuana, but we set the cap high enough to reject the harms that we have seen from medical marijuana in multiple studies.” Of the states with caps, New Jersey’s 10 percent THC limit is the highest, Rodrigues pointed out. New Jersey, however, is in the process of eliminating its 10 percent cap “to allow for more effective treatment of the debilitating medical conditions covered under the state’s program,” according to a 2018 report. The New Jersey officials are basing their decision on a Minnesota study, which found that “higher potency THC treatments provided effective treatment for a number of conditions,” the report said. Relying on data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, or NCSL, Rodrigues noted “roughly half the states that have a medical cannabis program have some kind of cap.” Contradicting Rodrigues’ claims, however, an analyst with the NCSL told The News Service of Florida that, of the nearly three dozen states that have medical marijuana programs, only states with what are known as “CBD” or “low-THC” programs have caps on THC levels. “To my knowledge, no state with a ‘comprehensive’ medical cannabis truly limits the THC sold in flower product. Louisiana has a clause of ‘as low THC as possible’ but doesn’t technically limit the amount of THC per product,” Karmen Hanson, NCSL’s behavioral health program director, said in an email. With the legislative session at its halfway point Wednesday, it remains unclear whether the House proposal will gain traction in the Senate, which historically has taken a friendlier approach to medical marijuana. Senate President Bill Galvano, speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon, acknowledged that some members want to revisit a variety of marijuana-related issues, including the state’s “vertical integration” system, which requires operators to cultivate, process and dispense cannabis products. “We have senators that are interested in perhaps looking at that (the 10 percent cap), but these issues are tied together and we’re at a point where it’s getting more and more difficult to justify reopening that whole issue and getting something done when we have one week left of substantive committees,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, said.