Florida voters have overwhelmingly approved allowing medical marijuana just two years after a similar measure failed to garner the 60% approval needed to pass. This time, voters said a resounding “yes” on Election Day.
With over 89% of precincts reporting as of 9:30 PM, Amendment 2 had earned 71.2% of the vote.
“This is a major tipping point: With Florida’s decision, a majority of states in the U.S. now have laws allowing patients to find relief with medical marijuana, and these protections and programs are no longer concentrated in certain regions of the country like the West and Northeast,” said Tom Angell of marijuanamajority.com
“It looks like medical cannabis will get more votes tonight than whoever ends up winning the presidential and U.S. Senate races, and that shows just how mainstream this issue has become. The next president and the new Congress need to get to work right away in 2017 on modernizing federal law so medical cannabis patients and the businesses that serve them in a growing number of states don’t have to worry that the DEA could knock down their doors at any minute.”
Florida is the first state in the South to legalize the medical use of marijuana with a comprehensive, workable law.
Patients suffering from cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, PTSD, ALS, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or other debilitating medical conditions as determined by a physician will be able to purchase and use medical marijuana in Florida once the program is implemented.
Florida
Name: Use of Marijuana For Debilitating Conditions
Ballot Number: Amendment 2
Proponents: United For Care
Summary: Amends the Florida state constitution so that qualified patients who possess a physician’s recommendation may legally possess and obtain medical cannabis provided by state licensed dispensaries. Under the law, a “debilitating medical condition” for which marijuana may be recommended includes is defined as “cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.” The home cultivation of cannabis is not permitted under the law. Department of Health regulators must begin issuing patient identification cards within nine months of the law’s enactment.
Read the full text of Amendment 2 here.
Tags: Florida, Florida Amendment 2, Florida medical marijuana, John Morgan, United for Care