One of the lone highlights from this past election was Florida voting overwhelming for medical marijuana. Since the vote, the roll-out of Amendment 2 the plan has been everything but smooth.
Per AP
Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran has joined the growing number of those calling for a special legislative session to finalize rules for implementing the state’s medical marijuana amendment.
Corcoran said Wednesday that discussions have started, and he would like to have it as soon as possible. If a special session isn’t held, the Department of Health would need to come up with rules for Amendment 2 by July 3 and have them implemented by October.
To just leave it to bureaucrats sitting over at the Department of Health I think would be a gross injustice,” he said during an interview on Tallahassee radio station WFLA-FM.
The amendment allows higher-strength marijuana to be used for a wider list of medical ailments It was enacted Jan. 3 after 71 percent of voters approved it last November.
Senate President Joe Negron said when the regular session concluded that the Legislature has a responsibility to be involved in implementing the rules.
Orlando attorney John Morgan, who lobbied for Amendment 2’s passage through the group United for Care, said Tuesday that Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders have an obligation to convene a special session so that they can complete the work.
“Government in Florida is controlled by one party. What you’ve got to understand is medical marijuana is not an issue of party. Diseases don’t pick political parties,” Morgan said in a video . “It was all about money in the end and not about you.”
The House and Senate agreed on most of the bill for Amendment 2, but late in session they could not agree on how many retail dispensaries a medical marijuana treatment center could operate.