James Call
Speaker Steve Crisafulli said if there is a problem with last year’s Charlotte’s Web law then people need to talk to him. The Compassionate Cannabis Medical Act of 2014 allows for the growing of marijuana and dispensing cannabis oil as medicine. Dispensing of the medicinal oil to treat a severe form of epilepsy has been held up in a rule making process with regulators and stakeholders unable to agree on regulations to implement it.
Stakeholders say the legislation is flawed and a circle of hearings, challenges and workshops will continue until the Legislature clarifies language regulators and stakeholders are unable to agree on the meaning of.
In a pre-session interview with the FloridaPolitics.com, Crisafulli said it appears to him the issue is people finding problems in the rule-making process and not with the legislation lawmakers approved.
“If there is something wrong with the statutory wording of what we did last year somebody has got to come and talk to me but no one has mentioned a word to me about the statutory piece of legislation that we passed last year.”
Patient advocates expected medicinal oil for children afflicted with sever epilepsy and cancer patients to be available Jan. 1, 2015, under the bill signed by Gov. Rick Scot last June. The first set of regulations was thrown out in court and a second draft of rules is now in a 21-day public comment period. Word among marijuana lobbyists is that a request for a hearing on the proposal is imminent, further delaying implementation of the law.
“We need to find something that works in the rule making process before we go to the statute; that’s my personal feeling,” said Crisafulli. “Why create more of a problem where you have to come to a statute to fix it. So implement it correctly through the process of the rule making, then we can have a conversation about whether or not there is a problem with the statute.”
Marijuana lobbyists have been drawing up a glitch bill seeking to clarify legislative intent and address the concerns raised during hearings and workshops.
“We are trying to finalize the language; a full court press may soon be happening,” said Ron Watson. “I have approached his staff but have not spoken to the speaker. I hope to do that very soon.”
Issues stakeholders and Department of Health officials have wrestled with since last summer include licensing requirements, retail operations, financial liability, patient accessibility and legal protection from the federal government, which outlaws the cultivation and possession of marijuana.
