Rep. Katie Edwards said Monday she will continue working to get a bill through the Legislature that would legalize limited-potency medical cannabis in Florida -- in spite of the more sweeping state Supreme Court ruling earlier in the day that allowed a medical marijuana constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, confirmed he too will keep pushing for legislative approval for the light, non-euphoric strain of marijuana known as Charlotte's Web, a form of the weed that could save thousands of Florida children's lives.
The more specific Charlotte's Web bill is less controversial and provides insurance to parents whose special needs children suffer from severe epileptic attacks. Even if a minimum 60 percent of the voters say yes to the amendment in November -- and no legal challenges ensue -- the Legislature still has to untangle the details, for example how much marijuana a person could possess and how growers would be regulated. It would be six months after the election minimum before the new law would take effect.
Said Edwards, D-Plantation, "I made a commitment to Florida families to see this through. Remember, this all sprang from the inaction of the Legislature last year, when I had a bill and it went nowhere. Why would I want to make these families wait one session longer?
"Now," she said, "because the Florida Legislature sat on its hands, we have a constitutional amendment instead of a bill the Legislature can get involved in from the start.
"With Representative Gaetz and I, this is really a bipartisan effort. I've appreciated his support, and we're going to continue to blaze trails on this."
"The bottom line is, we need to allow researchers to have access to cannabis so that they can study the strains of CBD and develop safe and effective medications in a pill, topical or oil form," she said.
Legalization opponent Calvina Fay, executive director of the Florida group Save Our Society from Drugs, issued a statement after the Supreme Court approved the amendment ballot language. She condemned it, saying "it will allow anyone at any age and with any condition to get pot. ... It makes a mockery of our nation's approval process for determining safe and effective medications."
Peyton Moseley, whose 10-year-old daughter RayAnn has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and intractable epilepsy -- who traveled with his wife and family three weeks ago from Gulf Breeze to Colorado to see firsthand what thederivative of marijuana called cannabidiol can do for children like his daughter -- told Sunshine State News he's happy the amendment is on the ballot. But, "I think if the Legislature could see what we've just seen in Colorado -- an 85 percent reduction in seizures -- I think they would want to be proactive and step up to the plate for Florida's children now, not wait for the next election."
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.
