MOUNT DORA — When Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputies arrested two workers for allegedly stealing from their employer, the pair were not charged with petty theft, for stealing pastry from a doughnut shop, for example.

They were charged with grand theft, because the product wasn’t flour, but flower from a marijuana dispensary — Curaleaf in Mount Dora.

A 24-year-old Tavares woman and a 25-year-old Orlando man were charged in March with grand theft of more than $20,000 but less than $100,000 on March 28 after security camera footage reportedly picked up on something that looked suspicious.

Curaleaf estimated the thefts cost the company about $47,000.

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The crime comes as Congress considers decriminalizing marijuana. 

The U.S. House of Representatives on April 1 passed a bill that would decriminalize marijuana on a federal level. Passage in the Senate is uncertain. Because it is still against the law, it makes it difficult for companies to get loans, set up bank accounts and make other standard business arrangements.

But the cannabis business is a cash cow. 

The total economic impact in the U.S. in 2021 was $92 billion, and could climb to $160 billion in 2025, according to Forbes magazine.

Meanwhile, state and local government officials across the country are licking their chops over tax possibilities, and some proponents claim it will put illegal drug cartels out of business.

Florida voters approved cannabis for medical use in 2016. Since then, dispensaries have popped up all over the state. 

At the Curaleaf dispensary, the female employee who was arrested was "seen with large bulges on her pant legs and belt line area,” the arrest affidavit said.

She confessed to stealing about 50 bags worth with the help of the man. She then took the pot home and sold it to a friend in Orlando for $100 per ounce. She gave him a cut of the profits, the report said. A tipster told the security manager that the pair were stealing 1 to 3 pounds of flower each night during the period from Nov. 24 to Feb. 21 of this year. 

The tipster claimed a packing machine was jammed, so they would empty the machine, stealing the product in the process.