Mass Confusion About Law

Mass Confusion’ As Florida Pot Law Goes Into Effect

By not addressing some issues of Florida’s medical marijuana amendment, the Health Department is causing mass confusion among patients and doctors in the state.

Even as the state prepares to carry out a constitutional amendment authorizing medical marijuana, a lack of guidance from health officials could create a “very murky and dangerous legal area” for patients and doctors.

Authors of the amendment, industry insiders, and legislative leaders have called on the Department of Health to clarify what doctors and dispensing organizations can legally do under existing state laws and the voter-approved amendment that went into effect on Tuesday.

To date, the health agency has remained mum, referring only to the language of the constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by voters in November and to state laws approved in 2014 and 2016.

Health officials have repeatedly refused requests for an interview with Office of Compassionate Use Director Christian Bax, who has been at the helm since the state’s first pot purveyors started cultivating this year.

Recent questions center on whether doctors are allowed to add to an existing state database patients who qualify under the constitutional amendment, which includes a host of diseases not previously authorized for cannabis treatment.