Medical marijuana legislation introduced in Tallahassee
The 2012 Florida legislative session has begun, and for the second year in
a row, a proposed constitutional amendment to allow medical marijuana in
Florida has been introduced. Once again, Rep. Jeff Clemens (D – Lake Worth) has
introduced a bill in the House, and a companion bill has
been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Larcenia J. Bullard (D – Miami). This marks the first time that medical marijuana bills have been filed in both the House and the Senate.
The proposal, HJR 353/SJR 1028,
would have to first pass through both the House and the Senate in Florida. If
this happens, a ballot question will be put before the people of Florida to add
a medical marijuana provision to the state constitution. The ballot question
would need to get 60% support in order to become law.
This is, of course, great news, but introduction is
just the first step. Please email your representative and senator, and ask them to co-sponsor this legislation and lobby House and Senate leadership to give this
bill a hearing. With 81% support for medical marijuana, the Florida Legislature
should allow their constituents to decide on medical marijuana themselves.
For more information on marijuana policy in Florida, please visit the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy and the Florida Cannabis Action Network. Finally, if you are a patient who could benefit from legal access to medical marijuana, or a medical professional
who supports changing Florida’s law to allow for medical use of marijuana,
please contact state@mpp.org to see how you can help.
Suspicionless
drug testing enacted in 2011
In 2011, the Florida Legislature
passed an absurd, and quite probably unconstitutional, bill that was later
signed by Governor Rick Scott. H 353/S 556 requires new applicants for
temporary welfare assistance funded by the TNAF to undergo, and pay for out of
pocket, mandatory and suspicionless drug tests. The new law will prevent
applicants who fail the test from receiving benefits for a year. If a second
test is failed, the applicant will lose access to benefits for three years.
Thankfully, a
U.S. District Court judge has temporarily
blocked the controversial law from taking effect until a
lawsuit filed by the ACLU challenging the law’s constitutionality is
settled.
The only other state that has passed
a mandatory and suspicionless drug testing program for public assistance is
Michigan. A federal appeals court struck down Michigan’s law in 2002 for being
a constitutional violation of an individual’s right to privacy and their Fourth
Amendment protection against warrantless searches. Fortunately, this precedent
supports the ACLU’s claim that Florida’s new law will not pass constitutional
muster. Unfortunately, it requires a legal challenge that will take time and
money.
Court established defense
Despite the fact that a medical necessity defense has been established by Florida case law, patients remain at risk of being arrested and jailed because legislators have yet to enact a medical marijuana law. To review a 1991 case that outlines Florida's medical necessity defense, click here.
Harsh penalties put everyone at risk
Although Florida courts, public opinion, and 16 other states (and D.C.) reflect a trend that recognizes the legitimate use of medical marijuana, Florida patients remain exposed to the state's harsh possession laws. Every single medical marijuana patient in Florida continues to live in fear because Florida's penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana are among the nation's toughest. Please email your legislators and ask them to introduce legislation to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. You can read more about Florida's draconian marijuana laws and their impacts here.
Stay connected
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. If you have any questions concerning the status of marijuana policy reform in Florida, you can contact us by email at state@mpp.org. To receive news about Florida marijuana policy reform as it happens, be sure to subscribe to MPP's free legislative alert service, if you haven't done so already.
