Florida Legislature Passes Medical Marijuana Expansion

On March 7, 2016, the Florida State Senate voted to approve HB 307, a bill that would expand the state’s limited medical marijuana program. The bill will now go before Governor Rick Scott, who is expected to sign the bill.

Under HB 307, the Right to Try Act is amended to allow terminally ill patients to use full strength medical marijuana if no other treatment works. However, although the original intent of HB 307 was to amend the Right to Try Act, the bulk of the actual bill consists of changes made to Florida’s current medical marijuana system.

The most significant of theses changes include provisions adding three more marijuana cultivation licenses to the system if patient enrollment exceeds 250,000 patients.

According to the Miami Herald, while some lawmakers criticized the 250,000 threshold as too high other lawmakers contended that the bill is a step in the right direction and that more changes should be made in the future.

“We need to pass this, make changes next year and the next if we need to and get it going,” said Sen. Bill Montford.

William Sumner is a freelance writer and marijuana journalist located in Panama City, FL. Passionate about writing, William is dedicated to journalistic integrity and providing quality insight on current events. You can follow him on Twitter @W_Sumner.

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