Under the Florida Legislature’s proposed medical cannabis regulations, the voter-approved regime would be more restrictive than before, banning patients from smoking, using edibles, and prohibiting vaporization unless the patient is terminally ill, according to a Miami New Times report. The proposal was met with strong resistance from United For Care who pushed for the initiative during the General Election.
“It goes further than the current statute in terms of restricting medical marijuana,” Ben Pollara, United for Care’s campaign director, said in the report. “There was unanimous agreement that the new amendment would expand use.”
The bill, which is required to adopt the new regime, was introduced by Republican state Rep. Ray Rodrigues. The proposal defines the “medical use” of cannabis as “the acquisition, possession, use, delivery, transfer, or administration of marijuana authorized by a physician certification”; but “medical use” does not include “possession, use, or administration of marijuana in a form for smoking or vaping or in the form of commercially produced food items made with marijuana or marijuana oils, except for vapable forms possessed, used, or administered by or for a qualified patient diagnosed with a terminal condition.”
In a statement posted to Twitter, Pollara said that while he believes “Rodrigues was sincere and thoughtful in his approach and authorship of this law” he couldn’t “help but to be dismayed” by the proposal.
“The bill begins by moving backwards in many ways critical to the letter and spirit of the constitution, and in some cases, the existing low-THC cannabis statute,” he wrote.
Pollara indicated that the measure also takes a step backward in expanding the market for medical cannabis treatment centers.
“Forget about government not being in the business of picking winners and losers, HB.1397 literally picks losers in the issuance of the first tranche of new licenses proposed in the legislation,” Pollara wrote. “The bill calls for the first five licenses issued to be awarded to applicants who previously applied for, but failed to win, a license under the current law.”
Additionally, the bill adds more strict ID requirements, would allow the revocation of a patient’s licenses if they are charged – not convicted – of a drug crime, and mandates an “education campaign” for the adverse health effects of cannabis.