FREE THE PEOPLE with Nikki Fried

"Free the People!" LEAFSTYLE and ONE PLANT in conversation with NIKKI FRIED. Florida’s 12th Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is a lifelong Floridian, attorney and passionate activist. Born and raised in Miami, Commissioner Fried graduated from the University of Florida, where she received her bachelor’s, master’s and juris doctor degrees. While at the University of Florida, she served as student body president – the first woman to hold the position in nearly two decades. As an attorney, she was head of the Felony Division at the Alachua County Public Defender’s Office and worked in private practice in South Florida, defending homeowners against foreclosure during the 2007-2008 housing crisis. Prior to being elected, Fried worked at law firms as a government consultant, advocating on behalf of clients before the Florida Legislature. In 2017, she formed her own firm to advocate in Tallahassee for at-risk children, the Broward County School Board, and for the expansion of patient access to medical marijuana. Throughout her career she has served with numerous organizations including the Young Lawyers Board of Governors, Chair of the Broward Days Board of Directors, Legal Needs of Children Bar Committee, LeRoy Collins Institute, Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida, University of Florida Governmental Relations Advisory Committee, University of Florida Board of Trustees, Florida’s Children First, and others. According to a report released by @leafly, 15,498 people in Florida held jobs in the cannabis industry in 2019, trailing only California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon — mature cannabis states with both medical and recreational markets. More than 5,000 of those jobs were created in 2019 alone, after whole flower cannabis was legalized in Florida. Florida’s medical marijuana industry grew by 93% in 2019 with a total market value approaching $800 million, which is close to states with recreational markets like Oregon and Washington, the report cited. Florida also has the largest population of medical marijuana patients in the country The intersection of Education, Culture, and Cannabis. Free the Plant.