It seems as though another medical cannabis bill may soon become law in Florida. To start the week off, Congress passed House Bill 307, which looks to enlarge Florida’s low-THC program by allowing more potent marijuana products available to those that are suffering from certain conditions. The bill will now be sent to Governor Rick Scott for his stamp of approval or disapproval.
Representative Matt Goetz and Senator Rob Bradley proposed the legislation; it would allow those people who have less than twelve months to live the ability to use cannabis under Florida’s “Right to Try Act.” In cooperation with state law, those who are terminally ill are allowed to use medicines that have not been approved of by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. If the governor signs the bill, the patients with less than twelve months to live will be allowed to smoke variations of marijuana, as much as they want, with the approval of at least two physicians.
This proposal would also be a repair kit for 2014’s medical cannabis bill: the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act. This is so because it would fix some of the issues that have caused numerous obstacles to the beginning of the program.
“Once again, Tallahassee politicians are putting their own campaigns before medical science and the rights of doctors,” John Morgan, United for Care’s chairman, said in an email. “This law would do nothing for people like my brother, a quadriplegic, or any other person who has intractable pain. It does nothing to help cancer patients who need marijuana to counter the effects of chemo. It does nothing for our soldiers with PTSD or patients with MS. The bill is typical Tallahassee window dressing, designed more to help with campaigns than serve as a true means of access for those that need it. Hospice centers have another drug. It’s called morphine.”
