California may have been the first state to legalize marijuana back in the 1990s, but there are many questions still lingering as to how they can implement sturdy rulings for cannabis here in Florida. As California is now requiring state IDs for cannabis in their state after years of lax ruling, Florida is trying to overcome lax rules and loopholes that could get people smoking cannabis when they are not a sufferer of the ten diseases and illnesses that are allowed to use this type of alternative medicine.
Searching westward
While the drug is considered illegal under federal law, Washington D.C.
and other states who have adopted medical Marijuana allow it to be used in some form. These types of usages and forms that are being adopted in other states show how the cannabis system works with those states and their population. It also provides Florida with a ground basis that can help them establish laws that fully implement what can be regulated by the Health Department.
“It’s really important to make sure that the storefronts reflect a true medical environment,” said Sen. Rob Bradley to the Tampa Bay Times. Senators like Rob Bradley have to work with the impending July deadline to which the bills would be drafted or implemented into law. So far, there is nothing still on the table after last year’s election to add medical marijuana to Florida’s state amendment.
Florida is looking at marijuana laws in Arizona because it also has a higher elderly population like the sunshine state. Other states include California and New York, but these states are very extreme and opposite in terms of age group compared to Florida.
Law options
California’s laws are loose and are often regulated by city and not by state.
Overall there are patchworks of regulations in each city throughout California and there is nothing grounded into the government. This is the first type of law that Florida wants to avoid if they don't want to end up in the same boat as California -- lax and chaotic.
New York laws legalizing medical marijuana were adopted back in 2014.
They have five licensed growers in the state with 20 stores for a state that’s 20 million and growing. Doctors have to distribute cannabis and patients only can use the oil and not the whole plant. New York has the most restrictive laws against cannabis that Florida lawmakers say are too restrictive for the state. The majority of the elderly population in Florida suffer from cancer, dementia, and other illnesses that can debilitate the person long-term.
Arizona is much like Florida. There is a high elderly population and the political atmosphere is highly conservative. They are hoping to blend New York and Arizona laws by adding thirteen licenses for growers that cover 150,000 patients. There are another proposed 12 licenses with four more every 75,000 patients. There are no limits to storefronts currently, and delivery options will be available.
