Tallahassee, FL: Health officials are actively identifying and revoking patients’ access to state-authorized medical cannabis products, as required by legislation signed into law earlier this year.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in July mandating state officials to “immediately suspend the registration” of any state-registered patient or caregiver convicted of “trafficking in the sale, manufacture, or delivery of, or possession with intent to sell, … of a controlled substance.” Some 925,000 Floridians are registered in the state’s medical cannabis access program.
Last week, a representative of the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use told lawmakers that the agency is complying with the law and that it intends to take action against patients “that meet the new requirement for revocation.”
NORML actively opposed the law change. NORML members generated hundreds of emails to lawmakers opposing the new restrictions, opining: “Patients do not lose their access to opioids and other traditional medications based on past convictions. They should not lose their access to medical cannabis either.”
Additional information on Florida medical cannabis laws is available from NORML.