History was recently made in the Florida Senate, when legislators for the first time passed a bill to legalize low-THC medical marijuana that treats intractable epilepsy in children. The marijuana must contain less than .3% THC (the compound responsible for the high feeling) and 15% or more CBD (the part of the plant used to get the oil needed to treat epilepsy). This bill recently won in the Senate with a 36-3 vote. Most legislators believe that marijuana has medical value for many diseases, but overturning a federal ban is not easy to do.

I do not believe that Rick Scott will veto this bill because it reduces the suffering of young children and is clearly a blessing for many parents. Not only that, but many other states that don’t allow medical marijuana for most diseases have legalized medical marijuana oil for the purpose of treating epilepsy, including Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin. The suffering of young children has caused many states to reconsider the ridiculous federal classification of marijuana as a drug with no medicinal use.

The Florida amendment will allow medical marijuana to be used for debilitating medical conditions, which are defined as epilepsy, cancer, glaucoma, positive status for (HIV), AIDS, hepatitis C, ALS, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or other conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient. Florida is covered by the phrase “conditions for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would outweigh the health risks,” because this would include anything the doctor decides to use the drug for and would therefore include all 40 chronic diseases and conditions allowed by other states. This legislation is very well written because it is going to give doctors the power to decide what is best for their patients.

The Department of Health will be Responsible for establishing the regulatory scheme within 9 months of the passing of the amendment, and will likely examine the regulatory schemes that are already in place in other states that have already legalized medical marijuana. There are 39 nurseries in Florida that are eligible to grow marijuana according to the Florida Department of Agriculture. Under the current plan, the Florida Department of Health would choose five nurseries across the state, including one in central Florida, to grow and sell the non-euphoric medical marijuana. Doctors would have to undergo eight hours of continuing education before they were allowed to prescribe it. Each nursery must have each been in business for at least 30 years to qualify, a very bad provision that will make it difficult for start-up marijuana growers to start a new business. I do not believe that this limitation will exist after the Amendment passes in November, because it is not practical. Having 5 dispensaries in a state as large as Florida is much too restrictive and would likely make it difficult for all patients to get their medicine in a timely manner, especially if they are too sick to travel. This type of overregulation is not conducive to business interests and will likely be revised before the law goes into effect.

The majority of Floridians believe that a regulated marijuana market would be far superior to the criminal market that now exists. I believe that regulations will not be overly restrictive in Florida, like they are in New Jersey, where patients are having a great deal of difficulty getting their medicine. Dispensing medical marijuana will be a lucrative business to operate, especially when the banks begin to give loans to start up businesses, and that depends on when the federal ban is overturned.

Last year, a few House members began a broad effort to overturn the 43-year-old federal ban on marijuana and they intend to keep up the pressure even if it takes years. Ten lawmakers wrote bills that will serve as legislative guideposts for the future if the House, as expected, ignores their proposals during this Congress. The ten lawmakers co-sponsoring Polis’ bill included California Democrat Barbara Lee, who represented San Francisco, New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes Manhattan, and one Republican, Californian Dana Rohrabacher, a Tea Party libertarian from conservative Orange County.

According to Bill Piper, the director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit organization that favors making marijuana legal for adults, “Congress won’t be able to continue to ignore what is going on at the state level. Eventually, Congress will have to change federal law to accommodate the states.¹ No one knows how long it will take to accomplish this.

Peter Bensinger, a former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, urged lawmakers to keep the ban despite the pressure to legalize marijuana. He stated that smoking marijuana impairs judgment and could cause cancer like cigarettes, which is completely false. Marijuana is a neuroprotectant that helps to slow down the progression of some cancers. It has never caused cancer and no one has ever overdosed on it. Marijuana is extremely bad for adolescents who have mental health disorders, and no legitimate doctor would prescribe it for such a patient.

Unfortunately, many conservative lawmakers share Mr. Bensinger’s ridiculous view, which is why previous congressional attempts to decriminalize marijuana failed. The legalization push in the House had very little bipartisan support in 2013. Rep. Jared Polis acknowledged that getting any marijuana bill through a bitterly divided Congress would be difficult, but many liberal lawmakers were determined not to give up.

In February, 2014, Polis and Blumenauer introduced bills against federal marijuana policy, which makes it illegal to grow, use, possess or distribute it. Polis’ measure wanted to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. Blumenauer’s bill would allow the government to tax marijuana like tobacco and alcohol. If both bills had become law, states would have decided whether or not to legalize marijuana, and state lawmakers would have Washington’s blessing to impose taxes on it.

On May 30, 2014, the House in Washington voted to block the federal government from enforcing the marijuana ban in states where medical marijuana has been approved. The plan passed 219-189, with 49 Republicans teaming up with 170 Democrats to approve the measure. There is no doubt in my mind that medical marijuana will someday be legal in every U.S. state. Marijuana for recreational use, however, is another story. The federal government is not cooperating with Colorado and Washington, the only two states that have legalized marijuana for adults for recreational use and has threatened to cut off their water supply so that they can’t grow marijuana!

In New Jersey, S119 was supposed to become effective six months after it was enacted on Jan. 18, 2010, but the legislature, DHHS, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had difficulty coming to an agreement on the details of how the program would be run. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services released draft rules outlining the registration and application process on Oct. 6, 2010. A public hearing to discuss the proposed rules was held on Dec. 6, 2010 at the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, according to the New Jersey Register.

On Dec. 20, 2011, Senator Nicholas Scutari, lead sponsor of the medical marijuana bill, submitted Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 140 declaring that the “Board of Medical Examiners proposed medicinal marijuana program rules are inconsistent with legislative intent.” The New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee held a public hearing to discuss SCR 140 and a similar bill, SCR 130, on Jan. 20, 2010.

On Oct. 16, 2012, the Department of Health issued the first dispensary permit to Greenleaf Compassion Center, allowing it to operate as an Alternative Treatment Center and dispense marijuana. The center opened on Dec. 6, 2012, becoming New Jersey’s first dispensary.

In New Jersey, approved debilitating medical conditions do not include the 40 chronic diseases, that are included in Illinois. Debilitation medical conditions in New Jersey are limited to:

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Terminal cancer
• Muscular dystrophy
• Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease
• Terminal illness, if the physician has determined a prognosis of less than 12 months of life.

The following conditions apply, if resistant to, or if the patient is intolerant to, conventional therapy:

• Seizure disorder, including epilepsy
• Intractable skeletal muscular spasticity

The following conditions apply, if severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or vomiting, cachexia or wasting syndrome results from the condition or treatment thereof:

• Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus
• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
• Cancer

New Jersey has only three alternative treatment centers (ATCs) where you can buy medical marijuana and many people do not live close to any of these ATCs. The three ATCs are:

• Compassionate Care Foundation, Inc. in Egg Harbor
• Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair
• Garden Stat Dispensary in Woodbridge

It is illegal to grow medical marijuana yourself in New Jersey, which makes it a hassle for many sick people to get the medicine that the doctor prescribed. In addition, patients must have computers with Internet access to register for the program in New Jersey.  Physicians must have a computer with Internet access, a scanner, and a digital or web camera. Physicians may authorize a maximum amount of two ounces of marijuana in a 30 day period. Only patients and caregivers are allowed into an ATC to pick up the medicinal marijuana and they must have an ID card from the Medical Marijuana Program. These cumbersome restrictions are making it extremely difficult for patients to get their medicine, possibly because Chris Christie does not believe in medical marijuana.

In Arizona, qualified patients or their registered designated caregivers may obtain up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a 14-day period from a registered nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary. If the patient lives more than 25 miles from the nearest dispensary, the patient or caregiver may cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants in an enclosed, locked facility. This system is far better for both patients and start-up dispensaries than the system in New Jersey.

In California, their medical marijuana regulatory scheme is so lax that it has eroded the legitimacy of medical marijuana. Many states are afraid that legal medical marijuana will lead to legal recreational marijuana because they believe that California has “veiled legalization.” In 1996, California’s Compassionate Use Act did not allow the sale and distribution of medical marijuana. Patients and their caregivers were expected to grow it themselves.

Under California’s Medical Marijuana and the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Proposition 215, California patients under medical care and their primary caregivers may possess and cultivate marijuana. The patient or caregiver must have written approval from a physician, but obtaining an actual county-issued marijuana health card is safer. The marijuana may not be distributed or sold. Approved conditions include:

• AIDS
• Anorexia
• Arthritis
• Cachexia
• Cancer
• Chronic pain
• Glaucoma
• Migraines
• Muscle spasms
• Seizures
• Nausea

Although marijuana is legal in California only for medical use, it is widely available. Imposing a local tax on medical marijuana, as Oakland and San Jose have done, has not pushed consumers to drug dealers as some analysts expected. That is likely because it is so easy to get reliable and high-quality marijuana legally. Although the law in California applies only to people who have a medical need for marijuana, the requirements for getting the card to buy the drug are notoriously lax. Doctors can recommend its use for ailments as common as sleeplessness and headaches.³

A recent poll showed that approximately 88% of Floridians believe medical marijuana should be legal. After the amendment passes in November, Florida’s Department of Health should create medical marijuana legislation that is far less strict than New Jersey’s legislation, so that patients can get their medicine easily, and much more strict than California, where anyone can say they have a headache and they will be given a prescription for medical marijuana, if they go to a doctor willing to give the prescription. Let’s hope the Department of Health gives serious consideration to the fact that very sick people need easy access to their medicine when they create the laws.

Footnotes

¹Vaida, Bara. (May 22, 2014). Medical Marijuana OK’d in More States in 2014. WebMD, LLC. (retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20140522/medical-marijuana-more-states)

²Naourney, Adam and Lyman, Rick. (Oct. 26, 2013). Few Problems with Cannabis for California. New York Times. (retrived from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/few-problems-with-cannabis-for-california.html)

³Naourney, Adam and Lyman, Rick. (Oct. 26, 2013). Few Problems with Cannabis for California. New York Times. (retrived from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/few-problems-with-cannabis-for-california.html)