Grow Your Own Case
Recently, I posted about a Leon County, Florida Court case in which the Judge found in favor of a medical marijuana patient who sought permission to grow his own medical marijuana because he needed the raw plant for the treatment his state-certified doctor had prescribed to him for his stage 4 lung cancer. Medical cannabis dispensaries in Florida do not provide raw plant product. Following that Court Order, Florida’s Department of Health filed an appeal.
The First District Court of Appeal in Florida has temporarily blocked that ruling and reinstated the stay that prevented Joe Redner, the medical marijuana patient, from growing his own medical marijuana. We will continue to monitor this matter. Mr. Redner has indicated that he will pursue his case to the Florida Supreme Court.
Smoking Case
As I’ve posted before here and here, the regulations implementing Florida’s Amendment Two (medical marijuana) banned the smoking of medical marijuana. And, not surprisingly, litigation was immediately filed challenging the smoking ban.
The trial in the case challenging the smoking ban is scheduled to start tomorrow and we will be monitoring it as it progresses. The trial judge in the smoking case is Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers. Judge Gievers is the same Judge who ruled in favor of Joe Redner in the grow case noted above.
In Other Florida News
Despite a slow start in implementing medical marijuana and getting licenses issued and regulations written, Florida now has more than 100,000 registered medical marijuana patients.