Florida’s Victory With Amendment 2 Looks to Improve The Access to Medical Marijuana

After failing to pass in the November 2014 election, Amendment 2 was finally passed in Florida with 71.29% (6,495,970 votes). The limited Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014 is now replaced by Amendment 2 titled “Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions.”

Florida physicians will decide if patients satisfy the conditions defined as “cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.”

The Amendment states that the Florida Department of Health (DOH) will “register and regulate centers that produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes and shall issue identification cards to patients and caregivers.” The DOH has six months to establish stated procedures “for the registration of MMTCs [Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers] that include procedures for the issuance, renewal, suspension and revocation of registration, and standards to ensure proper security, record keeping, testing, labeling, inspection, and safety. … [The DOH] will begin issuing qualifying patient and caregiver identification cards, and registering

MMTCs no later than nine (9) months after the effective date of this section.”
The amendment does not specify how many licenses will be awarded or how the system will function. Amendment 2 will be an improvement from the 2014 act rated as an F in a report ‘Medical Marijuana Access in the United States: A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws,’ by Americans for Safe Access.

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