Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
100,576 register for medical marijuana
Florida’s medical-marijuana patient database has hit the 100,000 mark, according to a weekly update issued by the state Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use.
As of Friday, 100,576 Florida patients had registered with the office, an increase of more than 2,500 in the past week.
Only 75,208 of the registered patients have been issued ID cards allowing them to purchase the marijuana treatment, and nearly 3,000 more applications for
the cards are being processed.
According to the update, 1,314 doctors have qualified to order marijuana treatment for patients.
Florida voters broadly legalized medical marijuana in a constitutional amendment nearly two years ago, but state regulators are fighting a series of legal and administrative challenges about the laws and rules related to the burgeoning industry.
Tampa strip-club owner Joe Redner recently won a court victory after Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers signed off on allowing the 77-year-old cancer survivor to grow his own marijuana. Redner’s doctors testified that juicing marijuana whole plants was the best source of treatment to keep his cancer in remission. The state is appealing the decision.
In a separate case initiated by Orlando lawyer John Morgan, who largely bankrolled the constitutional amendment, patients are challenging a state law banning smokable marijuana.
The patients are arguing that their doctors have ordered the smokable treatment.