The Florida House of Representatives passed a bill that has terminated a state-issued ban on the use of medical marijuana.
The measure approved on Wednesday represents the first legislative triumph of Governor Ron DeSantis. The Republican leader asked the legislators to act against an action that was holding back the implementation of the constitutional amendment.
“This is a difficult issue, and you will have people from both sides; some are happy that now it is available to them and others believe that it is not enough, “said the president of the House of Representatives, José Oliva, after the vote. “We did the best we could and we remain responsible.”
The bill (SB 182) was approved by 101-11 votes.
In addition to repealing the medical marijuana smoking ban, the bill allows doctors to order a medical marijuana supply of 210 days for patients. The figure that exceeds the current 70-day supply limit requires physicians to submit patient data to investigate the effects of smoking.
In addition, in patients under 18, the prescription must respond to a terminal condition and be endorsed by another pediatrician before dispensing the medication.
It is the first bill of the legislative session of 2019 that will arrive at the DeSantis desk, to be signed by the president.
In February, de Santis asked lawmakers to revoke the smoking ban during a press conference he made from Winter Park, along with attorney John Morgan.
Morgan funded the 2016 ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana that was approved by voters.
In 2017, the licensee filed a lawsuit after the Legislature passed a law to implement the constitutional amendment that banned smoking. The action, Morgan said, violated the intent of the amendment. A court of first instance acceded, but Governor Rick Scott’s administration appealed.
In an ultimatum, after assuming command of the state in the 2018 elections, DeSantis said he would withdraw the appeal if lawmakers did not reverse the ban.
DeSantis did not respond to a request for comments on Wednesday, but he applauded the Legislature on Twitter.
“I thank the Florida Legislature for taking action on medical marijuana and defending the will of voters,” DeSantis said.
For his part, Rep. Ray Rodrigues, a Republican from the Estero area, defended the 2017 law, but warned that the courts will eliminate the established regulations if they do not approve the law.
He also warned physicians licensed to order medicinal cannabis against generously distributing the drug, which is still classified as an illegal substance in Schedule II under federal law.
“What I would say to the medical community is that it’s up to them to do their job to treat this as a medicine,” Rodrigues said. “The last thing we want is to repeat the crisis that occurred with opioids in this state. So we will be watching. “
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who advocated a repeal of the smoking ban, praised the vote in a press release.
“Today’s action to finally allow smokable medical marijuana carries four words to the lips of people throughout our state: It’s about damn time,” said Fried, a Democrat. “For a long time the state of Florida honored the will of the people and allowed doctors to determine the course of treatment of their patients.”
But even after DeSantis signs the bill, the problem is not likely to go away.
Critics consider that Scott stopped the advance of medical marijuana with regulations that increased the cost too much for patients, pushing them to the black market.
“I am very frustrated,” Rodrigues told reporters after the vote. “I do not think Scott’s government acted in good faith to implement the bill (2017) when we approved it. I think the fact that we did not take immediate action generated the public’s complaints and I think that if the bill had been implemented, more patients would have access to the products. “
However, Rodrigues believes that the DeSantis administration will mobilize the latest measure quickly, after signing the bill.
