The Florida Department of Health is moving full speed ahead with a new regulatory system for medical marijuana after state lawmakers failed to finish the task during this year’s legislative session.
On Thursday, the DOH released a "Notice of Regulation Development Procedure," which outlines how the department will regulate the state’s in-demand medical marijuana industry, which only stands to get bigger and bigger as time goes by.
DOH officials have until July 3 to finalize a regulatory system for implementing Amendment 2, but the the department’s typical procedures are chock-full of administrative procedures which suggest the actual implementation could be much further away.
The DOH is proposing allowing health officials to give 15 days to challenge or appeal decisions regarding medical marijuana regulation. After the 15 days are up, the public would have three days to provide comment on various measures.
The guidelines come amidst a controversial several months in the medical marijuana industry.
State lawmakers were required to work out a regulatory system during this year’s legislative session, but lobbying efforts and disagreements over how many retail facilities medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTCs) could operate ultimately resulted in no medical marijuana legislation after all.
Pro-medical cannabis groups, state officials and Republicans and Democrats alike have all joined forces to call for a special session over medical marijuana, but a special session has not been called just yet.
Voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 2 last November, with 71 percent voting in favor of the measure.
Under Amendment 2, doctors will be able to prescribe medical cannabis to Floridians suffering from “debilitating” medical conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease and other extreme medical conditions.
State lawmakers worked towards regulating various facets of the industry during this year’s legislative session, pushing for doctors to be able to prescribe 90-day supplies of the drug to suffering Floridians.
House members also pushed for an unlimited number of retail facilities for MMTCs, but senators disagreed and the issue ultimately became the sword the bill fell upon, killing it off completely.
Under current law, Florida’s seven medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed an unlimited number of dispensaries.
A Florida judge recently increased the number of licenses by two, bringing the total number of medical marijuana operators in the state to nine.
State lawmakers have expressed hesitation over the DOH implementing Amendment 2, fearful of an impending catastrophe in the medical cannabis industry.
“GOP inaction = DOH trainwreck = Disaster for dying patients waiting 90-days for cannabis,” Rep. Carlos Smith, D-Orlando. “You were warned.”
Meanwhile, state legislators and the people of Florida eagerly await the legislature’s next move over medical marijuana. If state lawmakers don’t come back to Tallahassee to finish the work they started, they will have to work on new medical marijuana legislation next year.
