Without much debate and
two days before Gov. Ron DeSantis’ deadline, a bill to repeal a ban on
smoking medical marijuana has finally rolled onto the governor’s desk.
The Florida House affirmed the right to smoke medical pot Wednesday afternoon, approving the Senate bill
to include “smoking” to the language in the medical marijuana
constitutional amendment.
The bill allows patients to receive up to 2.5
ounces of whole flower cannabis every 35 days as recommended by their
qualified doctor.
Enjoy 92% off your first month of digital access when you finish signing up today.
The bill passed 101-11. Seven representatives were not present for the vote.
DeSantis in January
tasked the Legislature with amending Florida law to allow smoking
medical marijuana. If legislators didn’t by the March 15 deadline he
set, the governor said he would do so with litigation.
House Speaker José
Oliva has openly criticized smoking medicinal marijuana as an option,
saying efforts to legalize it are just “some cover” for getting access
to recreational marijuana.
“I’ve been in the smoke
business my entire life and I’ve never heard anyone say it’s good for
you,” the Miami Lakes Republican and cigar company CEO said then.
On Wednesday, Oliva told reporters that he had reservations then and still has them now.
“This is a difficult
issue ... This is the best that we could do and still remain
responsible,” he said.
“I would certainly have been interested to hear
what would have come of that appeal. We might still.
But I think that
the most important thing was that the elected lawmakers of the state
have an opportunity to legislate how this will be governed in our
state.”
In 2016, about 71
percent of voting Floridians approved a constitutional amendment to
legalize medical marijuana. While the 2017 bill signed into law by Gov.
Rick Scott legalized access to the drug in pill, oil, edible and vape
form, it made smoking it illegal.
The provision, which
became known as the “smoking ban,” was challenged in circuit court in
July 2017. In May 2018, Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers ruled
the smoking ban to be unconstitutional, but the Department of Health
appealed the ruling. After DeSantis announced his intent to drop the
appeal, both parties filed a motion to stay the appeal until this month.
In addition to
repealing the ban on smoking, the bill passed Wednesday also establishes
a Medical Marijuana Research and Education Board. The board will
oversee a research consortium established by the state university
system’s Board of Governors, which will receive $1.5 million for the
program.
Instead of only including the University of Florida as the
previous law did, all universities can apply to participate. House bill
sponsor Rep. Ray Rodrigues said expanding the research is something that
“we would be benefited from.”
The bill also requires a second opinion from a board-certified pediatrician for non-terminal patients under age 18.
“While there’s not a
lot of science out there currently on the effects of medical marijuana
there’s a body of science on the effects of medical marijuana to the
developing brain,” Rodrigues said.
“But with children who have a
terminal illness, long-term concerns are secondary to the short-term
concerns.”
It deletes a provision that prohibits a medical marijuana treatment center from selling products like pipes, bongs or rolling papers. Another amendment passed to allow patients to buy those products at third-party locations if they are using marijuana for medical use. The bill only addresses the repeal of the smoking ban and does not address the current integration structure surrounding medical marijuana treatment centers nor does it address provisions like drug-free workplace protections.
If the chamber didn’t pass a bill to repeal a ban on smoking marijuana, the ban would be dissolved via litigation.
Rodrigues, chair of the
chamber’s Health & Human Services Committee, said without a bill,
no “guardrails” would exist to protect patients through rule-making like
second opinions for minors and limits on recommended doses from
certified physicians.
“It is upon [doctors]
to do their jobs, to treat this as medicine and be diligent about how
they’re recommending it to their patients,” said Rodrigues, R-Estero.
“We’ll be watching and we’ll be hopeful that the best will occur. If the
best does not occur, this subject will be revisited in the future.”
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a former marijuana lobbyist who campaigned on the promise of expanded access to the medicine, said the legislation was needed.
“Today’s action to
finally allow smokable medical marijuana brings four words to the lips
of people across our state: ‘It’s about damn time,’ ” Fried said. “I’m
thankful for the House and Senate’s work to fix this situation.”
No comments:
Post a Comment