Pressure is building on Florida Gov. DeSantis to lift dosing limits

Patients and advocates in Florida are fed up with restrictions on access to medicinal cannabis. Florida health authorities issued new emergency rules on Aug. 29 that placed explicit limits on the amount of medicinal cannabis patients can legally obtain and use.

Advocates like NORML are concerned, saying the emergency rules were set behind closed doors – without any public input. Additionally, the rules came nearly six years after voters originally approved Florida’s constitutional amendment introducing a medicinal cannabis system.

On September 8, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried took action against the Florida Department of Health (DOH) and its Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), urging them to reverse “extreme” dosage restrictions, issued by an emergency rule. a process that gave doctors and patients less than three days’ notice and no opportunity for public comment.

The Florida Department of Health and Human Services Emergency Rule 64ER22-8 states that a qualified physician may not certify more than three 70-day supply limits of cannabis or more than six 35-day supply limits of smoked cannabis. Also, a 35-day supply limit for smoked cannabis must not exceed 2.5 ounces. Many more restrictions have been added to the list.

However, the rules allow doctors to apply for exceptions to the limits for certain patients.

Commissioner Fried announced the letter at a Sept. 8 press conference at the Florida Capitol, where she was joined by medical cannabis patients and advocates, including Dr. Barry Gordon of the Compassionate Cannabis Clinic and Jodi James of the Florida Cannabis Action Network (FLCAN). Discuss why the emergency rules need to be lifted and how they can harm patients using medicinal cannabis, e.g. B. those that require higher THC doses.

“This rule change is unnecessary, its implementation is largely unnoticed, and its impact is extremely damaging as hundreds of thousands of patients in Florida are no longer able to access their medications in the quantities they need for efficient treatment, such as from theirs.” doctors set. This reflects a lack of understanding of medical cannabis by DOH and OMMU at best and is an act of cruelty at worst,” Commissioner Fried said. “We are sending a strong message to the DeSantis administration to put patients first, protect their access to legal and life-saving medicines, and reverse these restrictions. I will never stop fighting for our medical cannabis patients and full legalization.”

Watch the video of the press conference here.

I’m calling on the FL Department of Health and Human Services to reverse the harmful dosage restrictions on medicinal cannabis that they just put in place as part of an “emergency rule.” Reducing patients’ access to legal and life-saving medicines by 2/3 with less than 3 days’ notice is unacceptable and cruel. pic.twitter.com/RNEmIJkdcn

— Commissioner Nikki Fried (@NikkiFriedFL) September 8, 2022

Commissioner Fried sent a public letter to Florida’s Surgeon General, who oversees the DOH’s OMMU, and the letter can be downloaded here.

NORML Associate Director Paul Armentano described the newly imposed limits as “a solution in search of a problem.” He said: “These arbitrary and unnecessary limits were set without input from the patient community or the physicians who specialize in overseeing patients using medicinal cannabis. They are likely to create unnecessary confusion and place an undue burden on patients and their doctors. Cannabis treatment decisions should be made between patients and their physicians; they should not be made by bureaucrats.”

Fried is an independently elected member of the Florida Cabinet.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a group of reporters Aug. 23 that holders of medical cannabis licenses in the state would have to pay more for their license application and renewal fees. State officials “should be charging these people more,” DeSantis said.