Smoking medical marijuana is now legal in Florida, ending a yearslong showdown between Florida lawmakers and public advocacy groups.
Gov. Ron DeSantis. R-Fla., signed SB-182 into law on Monday, a state Senate proposal put forward by Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes and Democratic state Sen. Linda Stewart, repealing the state’s ban on smokable medical marijuana for use under the supervision of a doctor as part of standard care.
The law allows patients to receive 2 1/2 ounces of cannabis every 35 calendar days to smoke. Patients under the age of 18 face more stringent restrictions, only gaining access to the cannabis if they have a terminal condition and have been referred by one pediatrician and one qualified physician.
Patients who receive a prescription will only be able to pick up their allotted amounts at licensed and heavily regulated medical marijuana centers, identical to the pharmacy model used by traditional medical treatments.
“We are excited to finally see the smokable part of medical marijuana legalized,” Stewart said in a phone interview with the Washington Examiner. “We currently have various forms of medical marijuana in Florida such as drops and capsules, but those forms don’t always work for every kind of patient.”
Under the previous law, some forms of medical marijuana were legal under very tight legal restrictions. Marijuana-based medication in gel, drops, and capsules have been legal in Florida since the passage of Amendment 2 in 2016, a ballot measure that received 71 percent approval from Florida voters. State lawmakers battled about the limitations and interpretations of the amendment, with then-Gov. Rick Scott and his allies in the legislature curbing the legalization of smokable marijuana.
The bill’s signing brings an end to one of the most hotly contested political debates in Florida in recent years.
“I thank my colleagues in the legislature for working with me to ensure the will of the voters is upheld. Now that we have honored our duty to find a legislative solution, I have honored my commitment and filed a joint motion to dismiss the state’s appeal and to vacate the lower court decision which had held the prior law to be unconstitutional,” DeSantis said after the bill’s signature.
When DeSantis announced his run for the Florida governorship, one of his most striking contrasts with then-Gov. Scott was a willingness to loosen the state’s opposition to medical marijuana, vowing not to pursue many of the court challenges that Scott’s administration had initiated.
Brandes, who has been a supporter of medical marijuana expansion in Florida throughout his tenure in the state legislature, says the efforts come at the same time voter opinion on the subject has shifted.
“People in the state of Florida overwhelmingly supported legalization of medical marijuana when the constitutional amendment passed in 2016,” Brandes told the Washington Examiner. “This bill was a reflection of voter intent and court interpretation of that amendment. Now the legislature is enacting the will of Florida voters.”
“Like most young Republicans, [DeSantis] is a reflection of certain libertarian values. There is a shift happening among younger Republicans in this state,” Brandes added.
Stewart said the law is narrow enough in scope to avoid potential abuse of the system and he does not see it as a being gateway for legalizing recreational marijuana.
“We put in place some safety measures that I think are going to provide help to patients who need the relief, to the particular people who are being prescribed smokable medical marijuana as their method of relief. I think some parameters are in there that are fair and standards that are used nationwide,” Stewart said.
After Desantis was elected last fall, an unlikely coalition coalesced around his governorship on the issue, including the brashly outspoken Democratic fundraiser and influential Florida lawyer John Morgan. Morgan, who had toyed with a run for governor himself, has made legal access to smokable medical marijuana a core issue in the state’s political discourse. Over the past several years, Morgan spent millions of his own fortune to put marijuana’s legalization on the ballot.
While Morgan views the policy outcome as a win for the cause he has championed over the years, the Central Florida lawyer said that there’s still a legislative battle ahead to protect medical marijuana in Florida.
“I don’t think you’re ever satisfied when it comes to legislation in general. But I am satisfied with the outcome of this project,” Morgan told The Washington Examiner in a phone interview Wednesday.
“You will see a gigantic fight when the push comes to have this provided for by Medicare, Medicaid, and the health insurance companies. Right now people are opting to go and spend millions of dollars out of their own pockets rather than use their insurance money to use opioids. So what’s next, I believe, is that battle between pro-medical marijuana advocates and the pharmaceutical industry.”
Advocacy groups ranging from veterans to cancer patients, regardless of their political stripes, all rallied behind the cause.
The issue also served as a political platform for the newly elected Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, the first Democrat to win statewide office since 1994. In Florida, the agriculture commissioner’s office is responsible for the implementation of the Domestic Marijuana Eradication Program, which had been led the past eight years by anti-medical marijuana Commissioner Adam Putnam. But with Fried as the department’s lead, the enforcement of the program has been drastically relaxed.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 34 states governments have now legalized the use of medical marijuana.
