The Power To Turn My Passion for Justice Into My Hemp Journey
Holly Bell is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Flora Growth Corp. in Fort Lauderdale.
By Holly Bell
When FDACS Agriculture Commissioner, Nikki Fried, first approached me with an offer to be appointed as the department's first director of cannabis, I was honored to accept. What a privilege it was for me to be offered the opportunity to lead in creating, building, and regulating Florida’s hemp program. It wasn’t until I started the job though, that I began to realize the magnitude of my decision.
The calls immediately began pouring in with real life accounts of arrests, confiscations, the harassment of business owners, etc. Then there were mundane situations and I was able to resolve the majority of those calls rather quickly.
Then, a store owner shared a shocking story with details that involved the confiscation of his child’s piggy bank during a home raid. Determined, I left that call feeling I could resolve the matter with the same approach I took with all those other cases.
I reached out to the attorney along with the legal authorities that were involved, and eventually, I understood this to be a case involving the bias-based profiling of an individual by a person in authority who had a personal issue with them, stemming back many years. I made call after call pushing back at everyone and questioning them as to what was being done.
These operators’ fight for justice was now mine too. It took a lot of time, but eventually we won. The fight for justice is worth it at every level, and I might be the first to lead that fight here, but I will not be the last woman to carry my title as proudly as I do. The great news is that in the end, the law always wins when the fight for justice is relentless.
““The fight for justice is worth it at every level, and I might be the first to lead that fight here, but I will not be the last woman to carry my title as proudly as I do.” —Holly Bell, VP regulatory affairs, Flora Growth Corp. #PowerToChangeStories”
Holly Bell is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) in Fort Lauderdale. She was compelled to share her experience in Florida's regulatory hemp market that ultimately led her to her current position with Flora Growth Corp. , an all-outdoor cultivator, manufacturer and distributor of global cannabis products and brands. https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-bell-b318a08/ ; https://www.floragrowth.com/