The first Florida Medical Cannabis Conference and Exhibition started Friday of last week and ends today. The topic was the focus of medical Marijuana, not cannabis as some people call it, and the ways in which people can be educated about the medical purposes and its legitimacy in the state of Florida.
No waiting for Government
The conference is in lieu of the long paneling debate going on in Florida’s Congress in which the House and the Senate are trying to produce a bill for medical cannabis that works for both parties. About a week ago was the deadline for the bills to be sent for review and approval by Gov.
Rick Scott. All deadlines are to be approved before the June to July deadline in which if no deal is made, citizens in Florida have the right to sue the state for a promise they cannot keep.
The conference was about business people interested in the idea of working with the regulations and distributions of legal cannabis throughout the state. So far only seven growers are licensed to sell and distribute the plants. Several weeks ago, bills from the Senate and House offered one grower and two distributer’s licenses to work in regions of the state which include Central and South Florida.
“This is going to happen,” said Dr. Allan Zubkin to Tampa Bay Times. Dr. Zubkin is a doctor in Clermont who went through the certification process to offer his clients medical marijuana if they are eligible under the Department of Health in Florida.
Patients who have terminal cancer, Parkinson’s, and PTSD are some of the people eligible for medical marijuana in the state, “I want to be part of the revolution.”
Florida’s Compassionate Use Act only allows limited use of certain drugs and prescriptions. Medical Marijuana falls under the Compassionate Use Act and only allows limited items of medical marijuana to be used for patients in Florida.
Under the rule, no one is allowed to vape or smoke the entire plant, but people are allowed edibles if they suffer from ALS or can take medical marijuana in the forms of oils, drops, and capsules to the alternative medicine to pain pills.
Gears grinding
Talks about working in deals with the Health Department and Congress isn’t going as fast as anyone hopes before the deadline comes around.
Deals with the amount of dispensaries growers can open stalled the progress on the legislators' attempts to work some last minute detail. Legislation can try again when they are back in session, but if they don’t find a common ground, then the Health Department’s Office of Compassionate Use may work on finding a solution to the number of dispensaries growers can open.
Until the regulations are agreed upon, businesses wanting to bank on the industry will have to find a way to get their businesses settled. Since banks work on a federal level, using a loan from a bank won’t be easy for a cannabis dispensary since marijuana is still an illegal drug according to the federal government. Credit and marketing will also become a challenge when working with the Federal Communications Commission. The goal in mind with cannabis in Florida is to cut down on pain pills and find a time to live.
