In March and April, I posted about two Florida House and one Florida Senate proposals to implement Amendment 2 (which legalized medical marijuana in November 2016).

36050449 - concept of national healthcare system - florida

The Florida House of Representatives has now passed HB 1397, which was one of the more restrictive proposals.  However, HB 1397 has been amended to add some uses, and has been expanded to add more licenses.  The highlights are:

  • Prohibits smoking, but permits vaping and edibles.
  • No caps on the number of retail locations permitted.
  • The current seven licensed growers continue to be licensed for medical marijuana and Florida will add 10 more licenses as soon as practicable and no later than July 2018.
  • People with chronic pain can access medical marijuana, but only if that pain is directly linked to a debilitating condition that would have qualified them regardless.

The limited number of licenses provided in HB 1397, has been harshly criticized by many in the cannabis business.

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