Leaders in the House and Senate both said at the start of the legislative session that they wanted to set the rules for medical marijuana in Florida.
However, they failed to do so.
Now it's up to Florida’s Department of Health, and what they'll do is anyone's guess.
“All we're asking for is just give us safe legal access,” says supporter Bridget Kirouac.
Kirouac has been involved in the fight first-hand.
We followed along, after the Martin County woman was arrested then later acquitted for growing cannabis
She says the cannabis helps her cope with her medical conditions.
Kirouac hoped Amendment 2 would allow her to be within the law, while getting the medicine she needs, but the legislation didn't turn out that way
“What they put forth was not a patient centric program,” she says.
On Friday, disagreements on how many dispensaries statewide there could be killed the bill entirely.
“It's a slap in the face by our legislature,” says attorney Michael Minardi. “It's disgusting from my perspective, as to what they're doing.”
Lawmakers in essence have now passed the buck to the Department of Health to make the rules.
Minardi said judging by its first draft, he fears the worst.
“It’s potentially prevent or delay people to have access,” he says. “It's going to keep prices high, and quality and availability of different products low.”
Supporters like Kirouac say it means they could be in for a long fight.
“What's going to happen is that there's going to be an awful lot of lawsuits by people like me, who cannot abide by the type of regulations the Department of Health will put forth.”
The DOH released the following statement to NewsChannel 5:
Amendment 2 directed the department to publish rules within 6 months and implement them within 9 months from the effective date, January 3. The Amendment did not prohibit nor direct the legislature from passing legislation related to the implementation.
Given the tight timeframe, the department began the rulemaking process in January. On Jan. 17, we published proposed rules. We held 5 workshops in February and received extensive public comment. We are carefully considering all public comment submitted either verbally or in writing.
The department is committed to quickly moving through the rulemaking process to create a regulatory structure for Amendment 2.
