State officials are meeting in Orlando this week to hash out new rules for a form of medical marijuana that doesn’t get you high.
The so-called Charlotte’s Web bill was passed over summer, and the Florida Department of Health was supposed to have rules in place by January 1 to implement the law.
But now a judge’s ruling on a controversial provision of the regulations is causing a do-over.
Competition to become Florida’s first medical marijuana supplier is fierce.
A judge last month threw out the Florida Department of Health’s plan to use a lottery to award the five potentially lucrative licenses.
The state will now have to pick the most qualified application from each region. But it will have to write new rules and get input first.
Rob Holl wants to try Charlotte’s Web for his 28-year-old daughter Megan. She has Dravet Syndrome, and has up to three seizures per month. Holl said he’s bothered by the delays implementing the law.
“It’s a miracle, it’s an answer to our prayer, and I gotta have this thing happen,” Holl said. “And I need to have it happen now. I can’t wait. I don’t want to wait, I want this now.”
GrayRobinson health attorney Troy Kishbaugh wonders what parents waiting for the drugs are going to do now.
“Are they going to have to go out of state?” Kishbaugh asked. “You've got to think about transporting this stuff across state lines, you've got to think about it being illegal to transport it into the state, illegal to possess it until these rules are in effect.”
Tuesday’s workshop is planned to be all day, and will be broadcast on The Florida Channel.
-- Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya is part of WMFE in Orlando. Contact him at (407) 273-2300 x 183, on Twitter @AbeAboraya, or email at aaboraya@wmfe.org. Health News Florida receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
