There are many reasons to love Florida. It’s got some of the best beaches in the world, incredible amusement parks and family entertainment, and fun people who are a mix of natives and transplants from everywhere.

Maybe it’s that last part that’s led to Florida becoming famous for “Florida man” stories – as in, the words “Florida man” in a headline followed by a tale of crazy crime. When you get that many people from all over the world living on a peninsula together, crazy stuff is bound to happen.

Some of it involves marijuana. Here are some recent #FloridaMan stories involving marijuana from the Sunshine State.

Come See My Pot Plant

A 65-year-old Florida man in Bunnell, a small town on the Atlantic Coast between Daytona Beach and St. Augustine, boasted to police officers who had come to his neighborhood on another matter that he was growing marijuana plants. He then showed them his plant. And then he asked them to smoke a bowl with him. Needless to say, he was arrested from growing marijuana, which is illegal in Florida. The man became something of an Internet sensation, at least briefly, partly because of his attire: a pair of Speedos, an unbuttoned shirt and nothing else.

Marijuana Instead of Cash

In Port St, Lucie, a young Florida man went through a McDonald’s drive-through lane and attempted to pay for his order by suggesting he give them some of his marijuana. His plan to return to a barter system economy had dire consequences when the fast food workers called the police and he returned to the McDonald’s with cash to pay for his food. Police arrested him for possession and DUI.

Burning The Trash

In Indian River County, on the Atlantic Coast just north of Port St. Lucie, police responded to a complaint about a 65-year-old Florida man burning a pile of something in his backyard. They arrived to find a pile two to three feet high and about five feet in diameter. Clearly, it was marijuana leaves. Asked why he was burning marijuana leaves, the man told police, “I was only burning the leaves, it’s trash” and later added, “It’s trash, you don’t smoke that, I’ve got like a quarter pound of it inside.” He invited police inside, where they eventually found paraphernalia, six ounces of pot and some THC wax. He was arrested on possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

You Can’t Fool a Dog

The FBI notified the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office that they would need a K9 unit at the airport when a Southwest flight landed from Bakersfield, Calif., one night in early May. The dog (named Ace) found 50 pounds of marijuana in the suitcases of one of the passengers, a 20-year-old who apparently was interested in engaging in some black-market marijuana business. Police charged him with trafficking marijuana, possession of over 20 grams of marijuana, smuggling marijuana into the state and possession of marijuana with intent to sell.

Bad Driving in Nebraska

Sometimes, people from Florida take the Florida outside of the state. And sometimes it’s not Florida man, it’s Florida women. In a noteworthy case from 2018, two Florida women were pulled over on Interstate 80 near Lincoln, Nebraska, because they were following the vehicle in front of them too closely. The deputy, according to the local sheriff, developed “a reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot.” The deputy called in a dog, who in short order found 100 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle, plus a THC-infused ginger beer. That led police to arrest the women on possession with intent to deliver and led everyone else to wonder why someone carrying 100 pounds of marijuana in a car would violate a basic traffic law.

Florida is a wonderful state, but there’s no doubt it often leads the nation in strange news – thanks to Florida man.