Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
State lawmakers are taking steps to update Florida’s 2-year-old THC cannabis law during the 2016 Legislative Session.
The state passed the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act in 2014. It allows patients to take a low-THC cannabis with the permission of their doctor. Supporters of the 2014 effort said it could help children with epilepsy and patients with advanced cancer.
On Monday, the state House Health Quality Subcommittee unanimously passed a measure (HB 1313) to update the law.
“This does a lot of clean up,” said Rep. Jason Brodeur, a Sanford Republican, and the bill’s sponsor. “The clean up is not us making policy choices out of thin air.”
Among other things, the proposal creates new regulatory standards for dispensing organizations, authorizes the Department of Health to perform inspections, and increases the criteria a physician must meet before they can order the treatment for a patient.
Under Brodeur’s bill, a physician must be board certified oncologists, neurologists or epileptologist, or specialize in cancer or epilepsy. It also limits dispensing organizations from providing patients with no more than a 30-day supply.
The bill does not, however, increase the number of dispensing organizations across the state.
In November, the state’s Office of Compassionate Care picked five nurseries to grow and distribute medical marijuana in Florida. Thirteen administrative challenges have been filed.
But with a constitutional amendment dealing with medical marijuana expected to be on the 2016 ballot, some stakeholders are pushing to expand the number of licenses issued.
The constitutional amendment would allow the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating medical conditions. A similar constitutional amendment received 58 percent support in 2014, just short of the 60 percent needed to pass.
According to United for Care, the group behind the ballot effort, 644,000 petitions have already been verified by state elections officials. The group estimates it needs 39,071 more verified to get on the November 2016 ballot.
“The constitutional amendment will include a more comprehensive list of qualifying illnesses, which would increase the eligible patient base considerably,” said Taylor Patrick Biehl, the co-founder of the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida. “The consensus is that the easiest way to satisfy the increased demand would be to award more grow licenses.”
Brodeur’s bill now heads to the House health care appropriations subcommittee. There is currently no companion bill in the state Senate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
