Florida Cities Face ‘all or nothing’ Choices on Medical Marijuana

Florida have taken a unique approach to marijuana legalization. The state has more or less delivered their cities with an ultimatum, to accept medical marijuana entirely or to reject it completely. In June, state lawmakers delivered the proposition to Florida cities who have been discussing the matter ever since. Numerous cities have already approved the terms of the proposition which allows unlimited number of marijuana retail outlets.

Medical Marijuana in Florida

Medical marijuana is the hottest topic in the USA right now. It is legal in 29 States and each state has left it to local jurisdictions to decide how they are going to implement it. Medical marijuana is currently legal in the state of Florida;however it comes with many caveats. It is tough to get medical marijuana in the state unless you have a doctor’s cert signifying that you have the appropriate condition. Medical marijuana is only permissible for certain severeconditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or bi-polar. This can be contrasted with many other states where obtaining a medical marijuana permit is as easy as filling out an online form and paying the fee. The rules with regard to medical marijuana differ greatly state by state.

Due to recent legalization, there has been a commercial scramble for marijuana real estate, given how lucrative the business actually is. But it is always a risk, especially in such a new area where the rules have not even been established as of yet. While many local authorities say they respect state provisions, many officials also want the ability to regulate the number of dispensaries and where they can be sited. This is no longer a possibility due to state law which declared that medical marijuana dispensaries are to be treated in the same way as pharmacies. Most cities and counties treat medical marijuana dispensaries in this way, more like light commercial outlets.

Logic and Common Sense

There is a lot of common sense and logic in the decision to disallow local counties too much control over the marijuana trade. According to Senator Rob Bradley:

“I would encourage our local partners to see the bigger picture here. We are bringing online several new licenses over the next year-and-a-half,…It’s important for the long-term future of the medical marijuana industry that we have real competition among not only the incumbents but the new license holders…If local governments were allowed at this point in time to restrict in their communities the number of dispensaries to only one or two or three, that would provide an unacceptable advantage to the incumbents.”

One of the biggest reasons that marijuana has been introduced is so that people with severe conditions can get treatments. This should not come at a premium and should not be overly regulated. If medical marijuana becomes commercialized and centralized with a few key players then it opens the door for corruption, as well as high prices for the product. This is practically always the case with monopolies of all kinds. Look no further than the pharmaceutical industry, which is what people are trying to get away from through marijuana. By limiting dispensaries and growers, it is setting the scene for the exact same kind of industry.

And this is not an idle concern. The state of Pennsylvania has severely restricted the number of cannabis cultivators and the number of medical dispensaries. The prices tag of a cultivation permit is $200,000 and $30,000 for a medical dispensary permit. The prices for end productswill be huge and severely ill patients will have no other option.

Florida cities have to make a tough decision to either allow marijuana or disallow it. With 72% of the populace being pro medical marijuana, deciding to cut marijuana out completely would not be a popular decision. And because of this it is more likely that there will be many medical marijuana outlets set up in Florida as the proposal gets passed. And many of the current fears of the officials are ungrounded, as there are still many rules and regulations with regard to the setup and operation of medical marijuana retail outlets.

Medical Marijuana Confusion

Perhaps the main point of debate is that local counties want official medical marijuana dispensaries instead of medical marijuana retail outlets. One is more of a professional outlet where people with specific debilitating conditions go to get a certain amount of prescription medicine. The other sounds more like a retail outlet where anyone can purchase weed. This is not something that local officials and even Florida residents want. But this is not something that is going to become a reality in any case. There are rules in place at the State level that strictly govern the operations of medical marijuana outlets or dispensaries, whatever they are called. A doctos needs to be on hand at every center and it will most certainly not be a marijuana free for all at Florida medical dispensaries.

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