Governor Ron Desantis signs bill to allow smokable medical marijuana
Tallahassee, Fl- Medical marijuana cardholders who are looking forward to buying smokable flower buds at cannabis dispensaries could also pay a lot less for medical marijuana soon. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday to repeal Florida’s ban on smokable medical marijuana. Medical marijuana cardholders will still have to get approval from a doctor to smoke flower buds. Once they do they’re looking at a 20 to 25 percent price drop to medicate.
Right now, dispensaries said they don’t know any of the rules for packaging or testing of the flower cannabis, and have to wait for direction from the Department of Health and the Office of Medical Marijuana Use.
Governor DeSantis felt that the current medical marijuana legislation is not in line with the will of the more than 70% of Florida voters who supported it in 2016 via a constitutional amendment. Because of this, he called on legislators to provide a solution to People United for Medical Marijuana v. Department of Health within the first two weeks of the upcoming legislative session. He said If a solution is not reached, the Governor will drop the state’s appeal and the lower court ruling, stating a ban on smoking medical marijuana is unconstitutional, would stand.
Governor Ron DeSantis released the following statement regarding the passage of SB 182 – Medical Use of Marijuana, in the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives:
“The Florida Legislature has taken a significant step this week to uphold the will of the voters and support the patients who will gain relief as a result of this legislation. President Bill Galvano, Speaker Jose Oliva, Senator Jeff Brandes and Representative Ray Rodrigues have done a tremendous job, working hard to ensure the voices of Floridians are heard. I commend them for their diligence on this issue.”
About Senate Bill 182
In November of 2016, Floridians overwhelmingly passed Amendment 2, voting to legalize medical marijuana with over 71% of the vote. In January of 2019, Governor DeSantis called on Florida lawmakers to pass legislation aimed at legalizing the use of smokable medical marijuana throughout the state, in keeping with the will of the voters. In the opening days of the new legislative session, the Florida Senate passed SB 182 – Medical Use of Marijuana, and the Florida House of Representatives passed the measure on Wednesday, March 13th. SB 182 is the first bill of the 2019 Legislative Session sent to the Governor’s desk.
