Legislators approve medical marijuana rules.
TALLAHASSEE — Legislation to enact Florida’s medical marijuana constitutional amendment is headed to the desk of Gov. Rick Scott, who said he would sign it.
The Senate and House approved the bill during Friday’s final day of the special session.
Both chambers reached an agreement on Wednesday that there would be a cap of 25 dispensaries per medical marijuana treatment center and that there wouldn’t be a sales tax.
The measure adds 10 additional marijuana operators to the seven already approved in the state with provisions to add more as the number of eligible patients increases.
The legislation allows patients who suffer chronic pain related to one of 10 qualifying conditions to receive either low-THC cannabis or full strength medical marijuana.
The House passed it 108-9 before the Senate voted 29-6.
House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues, who shepherded the measure through his chamber, told colleagues that lawmakers “have a responsibility and a duty” to implement the amendment, approved by more than 71 percent of voters, or else the regulatory framework could be decided by the courts.
The bill still bans smoking despite amendment supporters saying it is written into the language.
Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan, who largely bankrolled the amendment, has pledged to take the state to court over the issue.
“I do care about smoke, and I will sue them because of that,” Morgan, who is mulling a run for governor, told the News Service of Florida. “It clearly was called for in the amendment, and so what they’ve done for me is allowed me to step back up on my soapbox and go get what the people of Florida wanted when they passed this bill with 71 percent.”
Morgan said the language in the amendment was intended to quash the specter of people smoking pot on the street.
“It was a way to put a sock in the mouth of these bulls--- artists who were saying that,” he said.
Morgan brushed off questions posed by some lawmakers about whether the amendment expressly permits smoking, saying a 3-year-old “can figure out if you’re not allowed to smoke in public, what does that mean? You are allowed to smoke in private.”
“A judge and a jury will understand this perfectly,” he said.