Will Florida, the nation’s third most populated state, catch up with the 23 other states that have made it legal for patients to buy, possess and use marijuana as medicine?
The answer is a positive maybe.
The United for Care medical marijuana advocacy group is poised to take a second stab at a constitutional amendment in the presidential election cycle of 2016.
Whether in response to that or on their own, several Republican legislators have put forward their own proposals.
Meanwhile, two attempts to legalize the plant for all adults appear to be falling apart as backers face a Feb. 1 deadline to get nearly 700,000 verified voter signatures.
As all this is happening, two of the state’s largest counties, Miami/Dade and Broward, also have passed laws so that possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana is more likely to be treated like a parking ticket than a criminal offense.
“I really don’t have much faith in the legislative process in Florida,” said Carlos Hermida, deputy director of the Central Florida branch of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. “What I really see happening is United for Care passes their amendment this time around, and then a recreational amendment is passed on the next vote.”
In a state with a highly conservative Legislature — and an older than average population — United for Care came close in 2014, as 58 percent of the voters said yes to what was then called Amendment 2. Under Florida law, a 60 percent yes vote is required to create a new constitutional amendment. But a group financed by casino owner Sheldon Adelson was able to tamp down enthusiasm by focusing a TV ad campaign on what it said were loopholes in the law.
Among the more resonant ads against the 2014 measure was one that implied that children would be able to get a marijuana recommendation on their own, another that convicted felons could get a job as caregivers, and the notion that patients with less than debilitating medical conditions would be the ones buying cannabis at stores.
“You can still do those ads, but they will be even more false now,” said Jon L. Mills, dean emeritus at the University of Florida’s school of law and principal author of the proposed amendment.
Mills tweaked the 2016 proposal to address those issues, but don’t expect the St. Petersburg-based Drug Free America Foundation to change its stance.
“We feel the same way this year that we felt last time,” said executive director Calvina Fay. “It would alter our constitution. It would set up a big marijuana industry that we don’t think is in the best interests of the citizens of Florida, and it is wide open for abuses.”
Non-euphoric base
Florida already has a medical marijuana law, the “Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act” of 2014.
While it has faced delays in getting started, the act provides for five companies to grow, process and sell low-THC marijuana-derived extracts to a very limited group of patients: those who have cancer or who suffer from severe seizures or muscle spasms.
After more than a year of legal wrangling, the Florida Department of Health last week named five enterprises, each of which includes a long-time Florida nursery, to bring the non-euphoric extracts to market.
State Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, wants to build on the 2014 act by layering on a number of other medical conditions typically associated with marijuana.
His bill, HB63, also would grandfather-in the five licensees already named, then widen the field to allow “any business that wants to go through the criteria and get approved to manufacture, distribute and sell it.”
“I am not getting a real strong feeling that the bill is going to be heard,” Steube said.
On Nov. 16, Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, filed SB 852, measure that would completely scrap the 2014 act and replace it with a broader medical marijuana approach.
The 2014 act, Brandes said, “was designed for a handful of patients around the state. If you start adding conditions and levels of THC, you quickly have a program that doesn’t work.”
Brandes’ bill covers patients with cancer, HIV, AIDS, epilepsy, amytrophic lateral sclerosis, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, paraplegia, quadriplegia, or other medical conditions that produce symptoms such as severe and persistent pain, nausea, seizures or muscle spasms.
Brandes says he tweaked a previous effort “based on the best practices of the 23 other states that have legalized medical marijuana.”
“We really made it look, feel and act medical,” he said.
But he also is having trouble getting traction in the committee sessions that started in September and end this week.
“I have requested a hearing,” Brandes said. “There’s the request, and there’s the hard press for a hearing. I am going for the hard press.” He said he is fairly confident he has “a strong member of the House ready to sponsor our legislation.”
Meanwhile, the proposal that seems to have the home court advantage in Tallahassee is one that would take an existing law giving those with terminal illness the “right to try” the drug of their choice and extend that right to include full-strength marijuana. Companion House and Senate bills by Sen. Rob Bradley, R.-Orange Park, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach would build on the non-euphoric marijuana franchise by giving the five newly named licensees the right to grow and sell full-strength marijuana to this specific group of patients.
“I believe the Bradley-Gaetz bill, the right to try full-blown cannabis for those with terminal illness, is an excellent next step,” said Louis Rotundo, a lobbyist who runs the Florida Medical Cannabis Association.
Not enough signatures
Two adult-use proposals — by Regulate Florida and Floridians for Freedom — remain long shots.
Backers must turn in 683,000 verifiable signatures by Feb. 1 to get on the November 2016 ballot. With only two months to go, both have some signatures, but none that have been verified by the Florida Secretary of State.
Without any statewide move to decriminalize on the horizon, two of Florida’s most heavily populated areas are going as far as they can in that direction.
Under a Broward County ordinance, patterned after one in Miami-Dade County, police officers have the option of issuing a $100 civil citation to someone caught with 20 grams or less of marijuana instead of filing a misdemeanor criminal charge. A second offense would rate a $250 fine. Florida law makes possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana a first-degree misdemeanor.
Adam Tebrugge, staff attorney for the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, is working to convince other county officials, including those in Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas and Hillsborough, to follow Dade and Broward’s lead.
“Honestly, it appears that what the Legislature is actually trying to do is head off the ballot initiative,” Tebrugge said. “That appears to be the motivation, rather than trying to help people out.”
Faced with the state’s high hurdles for voter initiatives, United for Care campaign manager Ben Pollara cannot relax, even though his group has substantial funding. He still needs 320,000 signatures by Feb. 1.
“We are paying like a hundred grand a week for signature-gathering, and I am still only 90 percent sure I am going to get on the ballot,” Pollara said.
