A big win for patients in the state of Florida after courts ruled that the states ban on smokeable mmj was unconstitutional.
Per Orlando Sentinel
Florida ban that prevents medical marijuana patients from smoking the stuff has gone up in smoke.
Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers ruled Friday that the ban on smokable cannabis is unconstitutional. Florida’s Department of Health said in a statement it has appealed the ruling, which will impose an automatic stay.
Gievers wrote in her 22-page ruling that Floridians “have the right to use the form of medical marijuana for treatment of their debilitating medical conditions as recommended by their certified physicians, including the use of smokable marijuana in private places.”
Ben Pollara, who runs the nonprofit medical marijuana advocacy group Florida for Care, said the ruling is a big victory for patients and voters.
Taylor Patrick Biehl of the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida added that “despite legislative pushback over interpretation and ideologies, justice has been served.”
Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 allowing the use of medical marijuana. The only mention of smoking in the amendment’s language and in an intent document during the 2016 campaign was that the Legislature and local governments could restrict it in public places.
The Legislature last year passed laws that banned the sale of smoking products, citing a health risk. The laws, signed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott in June, say patients can use cannabis through vaping and in food, oils, sprays and tinctures.
Orlando attorney John Morgan, who led the push to legalize medical marijuana Florida, filed a lawsuit challenging the ban two weeks after Scott signed the bill. He was joined in the suit by two patients with terminal illnesses who benefit from smokable medical pot.
