EDGEWATER, Fla. (AP) — A man who authorities say was growing marijuana in a central Florida storage unit panicked when he heard a police helicopter hovering nearby and called 911 to surrender.

The problem? Edgewater police officers were in the neighborhood Wednesday afternoon to investigate an unrelated suspicious death.

It was shortly after 12:30 p.m. when 47-year-old Jasper Harrison told the dispatcher he was “the guy” they were looking for, adding he wanted to come out without being shot.

Harrison told the dispatcher he wanted police to contact him.

Three Florida nurseries on Friday filed the first protests over the state’s licensing of growers of medical marijuana, according to the state Department of Health. 

The department confirmed receiving filings from TropiFlora of Sarasota, San Felasco Nurseries of Gainesville and Perkins Nursery of LaBelle by the close of business.

Rejected nurseries have until Monday to file protests over the state’s award of five licenses to grow medicinal pot.

They're normally the guys locking people up for marijuana possession, but a group of current and former law enforcement officers will meet in Naples to push for people's right to get high. 

Not all law enforcement officers are on board, however. Legalizing marijuana, it's a hot-button issue in Florida.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is pushing for the change to save taxpayer dollars and valuable resources.

"Sixty-thousand people get arrested every year for marijuana possession. That's a waste of law-enforcement resources," said Ray Strack of LEAP.

The group meets Thursday in Naples. The Florida Sheriff's Association is not on board with the plan or Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummel.

NAPLES, FL -

Despite having been a part of the so-called "War on Drugs" for decades as a federal customs agent, Ray Strack is now pushing for the legalization of marijuana, hoping people vote in favor of a possible medical marijuana measure on the November ballot in Florida. 

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Nurseries are required to begin dispensing medicinal marijuana by August. A handful of proposed bills would increase the number of patients legally eligible to use the drug.

Medicinal marijuana should be available in Florida by the middle of August.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Story Highlights

A man who authorities say was growing marijuana in a central Florida storage unit panicked when he heard a police helicopter hovering nearby and called 911 to surrender.

The problem? Edgewater police officers were in the neighborhood Wednesday afternoon to investigate an unrelated suspicious death.

It was shortly after 12:30 p.m. when 47-year-old Jasper Harrison told the dispatcher he was “the guy” they were looking for, adding he wanted to come out without being shot.

Harrison told the dispatcher he wanted police to contact him.

Regulate Florida, the group aiming to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida in 2016 that would legalize recreational pot, is ending their campaign, admitting that they will not be able to get the more than 683,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot by next February.

That news was related to supporters on Wednesday day night via a conference call by Michael Minardi, the Jupiter based attorney and campaign manager for Regulate Florida.

The growers that Florida’s Office of Compassionate Use selected to dispense medical marijuana got their first look at state rules Wednesday. But instead of discussion between the growers and the state, there was mostly silence.

Five growers around the state were officially selected to grow Florida's first form of medical marijuana in late November. The companies had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to post a $5 million performance bond. The Department of Health said four had posted the money by Wednesday afternoon.

The draft rules include dispensing requirements, hygiene and odor control, and security.

Twenty three states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, have some form of law allowing patients to use medical marijuana. Florida is among those states, but so far, patients have not been able to access the drug. 

90.7 Health Reporter Abe Aboraya spoke with Intersection Host Matthew Peddie.

PEDDIE: I want to start with some background because there is a lot of confusion out there. Is medical marijuana legal in Florida?

ABE: Yes. Kinda. It’s complicated. So last summer Gov. Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 1030, the Compassionate Medical Use act. This became known as the Charlotte’s Web bill. Now what this did was legalize a very specific strain of medical marijuana.

Lawyers, parents attack use of small-time drug offenders as confidential informants for law enforcement