State officials have pot plan

Medical marijuana rules move ahead

After state lawmakers failed to act, health officials on Thursday laid out a framework for adopting regulations required by a voter-approved constitutional amendment that could make Florida one of the nation’s largest markets.

The Florida Department of Health on Thursday issued a “Notice of Regulation Development Procedure” establishing the process the agency intends to use to carry out Amendment2, givenathumbsup by more than 71 percent of voters inNovember.

The amendment gave doctors the authority to order marijuana for a broad swath of patients with debilitating condi- medical-marijuana tions, including cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Doctors also have the power to order marijuana for “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.”

During the legislative session that ended May 8, lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a measure to carry out the constitutional amendment. A key sticking point involved a caponthenumberof retail outlets the state’s licensed medicaloperatorswould be allowed to run.

Currently, Florida’s seven medical marijuana operators