Regulations should not harm those who depend on medical cannabis

Hundreds of thousands of Floridians rely on varying potencies of medical cannabis to treat various debilitating conditions, my daughter included. However, an amendment to place a 10% THC cap on all medical cannabis products for patients ages 18-21 was attached to a larger healthcare bill (HB713).

The Florida Senate is expected to take action on this bill this week, and it could jeopardize Florida’s medical cannabis program and patient access to critical treatments based on politics, not science. State lawmakers must reject any amendment that prohibits suffering patients from accessing the care that is right for them.

Studies have shown medical cannabis to be a safe and effective treatment option for a variety of serious conditions, as well as an alternative remedy to lethal prescription drugs. Here in Florida, doctors can recommend cannabis to patients suffering from conditions such as cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other chronic ailments. Across the country, more than 3.5 million Americans now rely on medical cannabis to manage their conditions and live better lives.

More than 300,000 Floridians are registered under the state’s medical cannabis program — one that is tightly regulated and allows doctors to recommend dosages they believe are right for their patients. But the proposed cap on THC levels in medical cannabis products being discussed in Tallahassee would unnecessarily interfere with patient access to effective medications and the ability of doctors to recommend appropriate dosages.

Just as prescription medications require a certain potency to achieve a necessary result, so, too, does cannabis when used to treat a variety of conditions. It is important for lawmakers to consider how differing levels of THC may be needed to manage a condition as debilitating as cancer compared to what is needed for a condition like PTSD. Additionally, because THC can affect individuals differently — and tolerances can be built similar to other medicines — dosages of THC should ultimately be left up to the physicians who best know their patients’ needs.

With most THC products currently ranging between 30-90% potency, a THC cap will force many patients in Florida to choose between paying for their medicine and paying for the electric bills, as Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez recently stated Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t want for his state.

They’ll have to spend more on cannabis treatments because they will need to consume 3-9 times the amount of any given product to achieve a similar result that meets their needs. About half of Florida’s patients are senior citizens and many patients are disabled. These patients on fixed incomes cannot afford this unnecessary increase in cost for a safer option than their opiate prescriptions.

Patients will undoubtedly be pushed back to the unregulated and potentially dangerous illicit market in search of lower prices and uncapped products.

The illicit market is where the vaping-related illness crisis was born. And speaking of vaping, in order to lower THC levels in vaporizer pens, cannabis concentrate is often diluted. Patients cannot, and should not, be relegated to inhaling unsafe additives in a regulated market.

The immediate effects of a THC limit would be devastating to current patients as products on shelves today would no longer be in compliance. Patients would be deprived of medicine for an indeterminable amount of time as licensed operators struggle to overcome the cultivation and production impossibilities of a THC limit.

If patients don’t turn to the illicit market, curbing access to effective cannabis treatments may encourage them to try — or return to — traditional pharmaceutical drugs that are often addictive, much more potent, and potentially lethal.

There is evidence that cannabis provides an effective alternative to powerful prescription opioid medications, and studies have proven that increased access to cannabis is linked to a reduction in opioid-related deaths. In fact, states such as Colorado, New York, and Illinois now allow doctors to recommend medical cannabis for conditions in which they may have typically recommended an opioid medication.

There have already been so many attempts to place arbitrary confines on the medical cannabis program in Florida. Lawsuits were filed to undo the smoking ban. Lawsuits will continue to be filed over the arbitrary qualifying conditions list. There are arbitrary numbers of vertically-integrated licenses to grow and provide cannabis products.

Lawmakers should not continue to place arbitrary restrictions on Florida’s medical cannabis laws, as this failed strategy has only led to dozens of lawsuits since the passage of Amendment 2, and taxpayers are tired of footing the bill to subvert their original will.

Florida’s lawmakers should not continue to deny their constituents’ access to medicines they need, and voted for, to treat a range of serious conditions and enhance their quality of life. Instead, as a community of at least 71.3%, we are calling on legislators to reject any arbitrary limit on regulated THC products, just as legislators in other states have done, and empower patients and their physicians to determine what’s right for them.