Scott Powers
A bill that would tighten safety and security measures for the production of medical marijuana plus limit the medical specialties of the doctors allowed to prescribe it was approved Tuesday by a House subcommittee.
The Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee voted 12-0, with no one voicing opposition, to move House Bill 1313 forward.
The bill would tighten requirements for Florida’s budding limited medical marijuana program, setting restrictions on security, quality control and liability in production and distribution.
Florida’s law was approved in 2014 and is only now moving forward with licensed growers preparing to grow cannabis. That law allows low-THC cannabis to be processed into medicines that can be offered to people with cancer, epilepsy and other afflictions that might cause uncontrollable seizures or tremors.
The current law also creates an avenue for Florida doctors to become registered to authorize that their patients use the marijuana-derived medicines. Yet that program has few restrictions on what kinds of doctors can do so. HB 1313, sponsored by GOP state Rep. Jason Brodeur of Sanford sets limits and requires that minors’ approvals be given by two doctors, instead of just one.
“The intent is to limit recommending to those that are actually treating cancer, seizure and spasm conditions,” Brodeur said later.
Specifically, the bill would require that approved doctors be board-certified as an oncologist, neurologist, or epileptologist or specialize in the treatment of cancer, epilepsy, or physical medical conditions that chronically produce symptoms of seizures or severe and persistent muscle spasms.
So far, just over 100 doctors have signed up statewide to participate in the program. Though it’s unclear how many specialize in the sanctioned illnesses, few of those who signed up have certifications in the authorized specialties. A spot check of 20 approved physicians found three neurologists and one oncologist, along with anesthesiologists, gynecologists, an ophthalmologist, and general practitioners.
Under the bill, doctors also must have treated the patient for cancer or a physical medical condition that chronically produces symptoms of seizures or severe and persistent muscle spasms for at least six months.
3 comments
Bill Monroe
February 2, 2016 at 3:54 pm
Will these same rules be imposed on cannabis based pharmaceutical drugs and synthetics like Marinol and Epidiolex? If not why?
Mary-Kate Westwood
February 3, 2016 at 10:32 am
This article, like the bill it reports on, is really misleading. The bill removed the terms “pesticide” and “ppm” (parts-per-million) from the law, replacing it with the nebulous “contaminants”; further, it allows nurseries to use pesticide on the cannabis plants–these are plants that will be put through an extraction process, whereby the pesticide concentration will be MUCH higher than it would, say, with produce meant for food. There should be NO pesticide in medicine! SHAME on the legislature.
Grace
February 3, 2016 at 12:17 pm
This is the dumbest and I mean the dumbest thing they could have done to limit which doctors could prescribe it. In my opinion, any doctor who is board certified should be able to prescribe as long as they have been seeing a patient for 6 months or longer. This is only CBD with very low THC, GEEZ! So what happens to those doctors that have taken the test and do not fall into the new criteria, I wouldn’t be happy about it! Also, what about if you’re not happy with your specialist or he/she refuses to take the test or doesn’t believe in CBD, so now you have to go find another specialist and be with him/her for 6 more months before you can get your hands on something that could possibly save your life. This is just another tactic to stall MMJ.
Comments are closed.