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Florida Representative Pushes for Medical Cannabis

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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]F[/dropcap]loridian Rep. Matt Gaetz made headlines on May 21 when he announced his support for medical cannabis.

According to Tampa Bay Times, Gaetz announced that he supports cannabis and doesn’t think that cannabis advocates need to despair. “A lot of people think we can’t pass cannabis reform in a GOP controlled congress,” Gaetz told the Tampa Bay Times regarding the current Republican control. “It reminds me of when Gov. Scott sent his Surgeon General to testify against my Florida legislation—and then took credit for it when debating Charlie Crist. This issue is moving fast. It turns out people like freedom.”

For those following Gaetz closely, this shouldn’t be a major shock. Last month, the Republican introduced a bipartisan bill called the Medical Cannabis Research Act of 2018. He even hosted a special event on Capitol Hill in support of freeing up cannabis for medical research.

If the new act ends up passing, it would require the federal government to routinely check up on whether there is enough medical-grade cannabis available for testing. One of the major complaints from researchers in the past has been that cannabis that is cultivated for research purposes is actually much lower quality than cannabis cultivated in legal states for recreational and medical sale. It would also provide a safe harbor for researchers who fear of being interrupted or persecuted for studying medical cannabis.

“The federal government has lied to the American people for a generation about the medical properties of cannabis,” Gaetz said. “We have a moral obligation to democratize access to research so that innovators can unlock cures to improve quality of life for millions.”

The state of Florida has continuously failed to act on implementing their medical cannabis program, even resulting in a lawsuit. All that aside, however, this is a major milestone to show how far support for medical and testable cannabis has come.

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