A proposed Florida constitutional amendment would allow for medical marijuana prescriptions for “certain medical conditions.” Supporters of the measure are proposing stringent regulations on potential distributors to dispel naysayers’ fears.
The plan to adapt a better medical marijuana policy in Florida isn’t baseless; after all, we have California and Colorado — the “wild west of weed,” according to the Tampa Tribune — as models of systems that have failed. The rules and practices of the California weed industry have been evolving since 1996, the Tribune stated, allowing for easy access to the state’s finest kush.
However, supporters of medical marijuana in Florida know they won’t gain momentum if they propose implementing the same loose system in Florida. Furthermore, the amendment campaign manager of United for Care, Ben Pollara, told the Tribune that Florida’s November ballot would include a “pretty strict set of rules” when it comes to the production and sale of medical marijuana in the state.
Strict regulation proposals need to be on the table long before the amendment goes on the ballot, and organizations like United for Care recognize this. About 36 percent of Florida’s registered voters identify as Republicans, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Democrats are still slightly in the lead, comprising 40 percent of Florida voters. Still, 36 percent is nothing to sniff at, especially since advocates for medical marijuana need to win over the conservative pockets of the state come election season.
Unlike those implemented in California and Colorado, Florida’s medical marijuana policy would be regulated from the get-go. This, advocates argue, is the crucial difference. Out west, the pot industries ran virtually unregulated when they first began, and those in authority know that it’s much easier to loosen political grip than it is to tighten.
In addition, according to the Tribune, the amendment states that the Florida Department of Health would have 60 days from the bill’s effective date — Jan. 6, 2015 — to form policies governing the issuing of medical marijuana ID cards to caregivers, the registration of treatment centers to dispense marijuana (including standards of security, record-keeping, inspection, labeling and testing) and the limits on how much marijuana a patient may obtain.
The current political and economic climate seems favorable to the passage of a medical marijuana bill in Florida. The Tribune reported that a grower in Pembroke Park has made a serious inquiry about opening a marijuana-growing operation; a West Palm Beach publisher who used to work for a marijuana trade magazine is offering a seminar this weekend “for everyone who plans to participate in Florida’s future legal cannabis industry” to “meet the experts” on legal and medical aspects of legalized marijuana; and Medical Marijuana Tampa has mobilized quickly to educate citizens about the positive impact the bill could have.
The signs, then, are clear: It’s high time — pun intended — that Florida adopt progressive, well-structured medical marijuana policies.
[A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 3/25/2014 under the headline "Joint effort: Medical marijuana could work in Florida"]
