South Floridians who voted to approve Constitutional Amendment two that would lead to the availability of medication derived from marijuana, are reportedly encouraged by actions underway in the current sitting of the Florida Legislature. The constitutional amendment made medical marijuana legal in Florida, but the required regulations are subject to legislation to be voted on by Florida lawmakers by the end of June.
There are six bills, one in the House and five in the Senate, currently before lawmakers which are to be debated, advanced to relative committees and voted on in both chambers.
The bill tabled in the House was heard on Tuesday and approved 14 to 1 in the Health Quality subcommittee. However, it need to be approved by two more committees before voted on by the full House membership. This bill proposes to limit the number of farms licensed to grow marijuana for medical purposes, to the current seven growers approved by the state. It also proposes to ban edible forms of marijuana.
Under the House proposal, the number of growers would expand based on an increase in prescriptions medical marijuana . Each grower/farm would be limited to grow marijuana to provide medication to serve 18,000 to 20,000 patients. It is estimated that up to 30 farms could be licensed based on this proposal.
Among the bills before the Senate, and yet to be heard, are some that propose shortening the wait time between patient’s consultation with a doctor and being issued a prescription, from 90 to 45 days. The reduction of the wait period was one urged by doctors, patients and their relatives at town-hall meetings held across the state earlier this year. Research has indicated that medical marijuana is useful in treating several diseases including glaucoma, Parkinson’s and Crohn’s disease, ALS, epilepsy and forms of cancer.
The Senate will be required to form consensus on of the five bills tabled in that chamber. That bill must be in sync with the House bill, passed by both chambers, then signed into law by Governor Rick Scott.
Following approval by the Legislature, the Florida Department of Health will be required to finalize rules related to dispensation and use of the medication .
Meanwhile, over 600 doctors across Florida have passed an eight-hour state required test, and are officially licensed to prescribe medical marijuana to patients.
According to the Florida Department of Health, most of the recently licensed doctors are in South Florida, with the majority in Miami-Dade County.
