Medical marijuana plans stacking up in Legislature

By Dan Sweeney of the Sun-Sentinel

Medical marijuana is on the way, but just how people can get it — and how much they can get — is a hot topic for the Florida Legislature.
Florida’s Amendment 2, passed by voters in November, expanded the very limited Florida medical marijuana law, which previously allowed for non-euphoric strains of pot for cancer, epilepsy and severe muscle spasms, as well as full-strength pot for people with less than a year to live due to terminal illness.
There are six plans: five in the state Senate and one in the House. One thing they all have in common: Not a single plan has a committee hearing in the other chamber. The House and Senate are far apart on a solution.
Florida's new medical marijuana amendment will allow doctors to order medical marijuana for people suffering from certain medical conditions. Click through to see which conditions make a patient eligible for treatment.
In addition, the ballot language gives doctors the power to order marijuana for "other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."
Read the complete story here.
 (Selima Hussain, Associated Press)Here’s a brief summary of the plans:
The Bradley Plan

• Requires caregivers who purchase marijuana for patients unable to travel to dispensaries to pass a background check.
• Allows patients a 90-day supply of pot, up from the 45 days in current law.
• Keeps current restrictions on sellers, limiting dispensaries to those capable of growing large quantities of marijuana.
• Limits the number of places that can grow and sell marijuana. Currently, there are seven nurseries/dispensaries in the state. After 250,000 patients register in the state, five more would open. Then, another five nursery/dispensaries would open after the registration of 350,000; 400,000 and 500,000 qualifying patients; and then five more after each 100,000 medical marijuana patients above 500,000.
• Supporters: State Sens. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, and Dana Young, R-Tampa.

The Brandes Plan

• Requires caregivers to complete a two-hour training course and a background check, though there would be exemptions for immediate family and health-care workers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
• Allows patients a 90-day supply of pot.
• Allows businesses to grow, process or sell marijuana without having to do all of them.
• Limits retail sellers to one for every 25,000 residents of a county, though a county or city commission could ban retailers within their borders. If they’re allowed, it would mean about 55 retailers in Palm Beach County, 74 in Broward and 105 in Miami-Dade.
• Supporters: State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and many medical marijuana proponents.

The Artiles Plan

• Defines “medical marijuana treatment centers” as places that cultivate or sell or process marijuana. That means it would not require sellers to also grow.
• Requires growers to have their marijuana independently tested for mold, pesticides and other toxic substances before selling to patients or wholesale to retail shops.
• Keeps the maximum amount of marijuana allowed for purchase at a 45-day supply.
• Limits the amount of places that can grow and sell marijuana in the same manner as the Bradley plan.
• Supporter: State Sen. Frank Artiles, R-Miami.

The Braynon plan

• Allows caregivers to be under 21 years of age — the constitutional requirement — if they are close family members.
• Allows patients a 90-day supply of pot.
• Allows businesses to grow, process or sell marijuana.
• The bill has no limits on sellers or growers, but its sponsor says a future version of the bill would allow for one medical marijuana dispensary for every 10 pharmacies in a county.
• Supporter: State Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens

The Grimsley plan

• Allows caregivers to be under 21 years of age if they are close family members.
• Limits marijuana supply to the current 45 days.
• Doesn’t permit county and city commissions to pass laws banning dispensaries.
• Doesn’t set limits on dispensaries, but allows counties to set criteria for the number, location, and permitting requirements.
• Supporter: State Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring

The House plan

• Requires caregivers be 21 years old and permanent Florida residents who complete a training course and a background check.
• Allows patients a 90-day supply of pot.
• Bans smoking, vaping or eating marijuana in food products like brownies or cookies.
• Requires medical marijuana be grown, processed and sold by the same entity, limiting the number of potential dispensaries.
• Allows the seven current dispensaries, plus six more after 150,000 patients qualify for medical marijuana. After 200,000 patients qualify, five more would be allowed, and then three more for every 100,000 patients who qualify.
• Supporter: State Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero

The other option is for the Legislature to do nothing, throwing the ball into the Florida Department of Health’s court and leaving it up to the department to regulate medical marijuana.
The department has already signaled that it would likely keep much of the current state law in place, resulting in a regulatory scheme potentially even more restrictive than anything offered by the Legislature.