Medical Cannabis Bill Passes Florida House

The latest medical cannabis bill introduced in Florida successfully passed the house at the beginning of this month, leading for new possibilities for patients down south.

According to NBC Miami, Representative Matt Gaetz’s House Bill 307 makes progress where other medical cannabis bills have fallen short. The bill passed by 99-16, and it allows for near-death patients to smoke stronger cannabis, and changes the regulations for patients and dispensaries.

“I wish we could go and pick a regulatory model and say that is the yellow brick road, that’s what works, and copy it,” Gaetz told NBC Miami. “There are stumbles and challenges, but you have to have brains, courage and heart to get things done.”

The biggest complaints against the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act that was passed last year are that it is too restrictive and invited too much red tape to actually help patients. Cannabis and CBD oil are still not available to most patients in Florida, despite the fact that the law is already in effect.

“The focus in our debates (this year) have been largely on who gets to grow and lobby. The focus, though, has to be on the patients and expanding it,” Representative Katie Edwards, who sponsored the bill, told NBC Miami.

The bill also allows for more dispensaries to be licensed once the patient number exceeds 250,000 and could potentially pave the way for true medical legalization if the ballot measure passes this year. Because medical legalization was such a close call last year in Florida, patients are hopeful that this year will see success.

“We have to green-light the path of the existing license holders to patients,” Gaetz told NBC Miami. “This bill addresses that and removes a barrier that exists between dying people and the choices they make with medical cannabis.”