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AROUND THE REGION
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Back Cover Story: What’s Ahead for Cannabis Legislation in Florida?

Continued from page 44 CNF: The final issue you mentioned should be an easy one: better
ued opposition from those who wish to continue to impede the growth of the pro- veteran’s access to medical marijuana cards. Patients currently have
gram. These issues affect those already being helped by Medical Cannabis. to register for a medical marijuana card every year, and pay $75
annually.
CNF: The first of these is allowing Florida medical marijuana patients Dr. Gordon: It’s definitely a nonpartisan issue. This could be done through a free card
the ability to recertify with their current provider via telehealth. Due for our veterans. I've also heard this idea floated out—let the veteran card be good for
to COVID-19 an emergency order was issued allowing this on a tem- five years versus one year for the $75 fee.
porary basis as it is specifically not allowed in the statute.
Dr. Gordon: This one is the simplest as we’ve already been doing it for the past six CNF: Which of these issues could come to fruition soon?
months. It's tried and true. The patients love it. Masks aren't going away for the immuno- Dr. Gordon: There are people who are laying the groundwork for all of these issues
compromised, such as cancer patients. It’s better for them to be able to stay in their now and working with the committees to introduce the appropriate bills. We know
homes and achieve recertification from the safety and comfort of their home. that we're going to have to get things going this fall. But if you asked me which one
We’re not asking for anything new. This is the “lowest hanging fruit” of them all; a pro- has the best chance of passing legislation first, the state reciprocity bill was discussed
gram that already exists, but can't exist because of the wording of the statute stating that and presented last year, even though it went nowhere at the time. Hopefully, this year
telehealth can't be done for Medical Cannabis. That's going to have to be changed at the will be different. The telehealth issue is new, but once again should be something that
legislative level. It should not be a Republican or a Democratic issue. It should be a green can get done. All four are non-partisan issues and you are assisting patients who are
issue, as we say, and clearly to the safety and benefit of EVERY patient. already in a medical cannabis program to begin with.

CNF: How about state reciprocity? Florida does not offer reciprocity, CNF: Anything else to add?
so those patients who move here with an out-of-state medical mari- Dr. Gordon: There are many issues we want to work on. The most obvious, which
juana card cannot use them in Florida. I consider as almost unbelievable, is adding more qualifying conditions. Last year,
Dr. Gordon: If you're in a program in a state up north and you're successfully achieving conditions as obvious as Sickle Cell Anemia and Opioid Use Disorder were unable to
positive results to your health by using medical cannabis, it's immoral for any physician be even moved out of committee hearings. There are five conditions that do not qual-
to make that patient go through unreliable and illegal sources for their medicine, i.e. the ify for medical marijuana in Florida that qualify in many other states which I call the
“black market”. five A's: Anxiety, Alzheimer's, Autism, Arthritis, or any type or Autoimmune Disease
My opinion is that the patient still needs to go through a medical visit here in the state except for Crohn’s.
of Florida so that they learn the specifics of the Florida program, and become educated I do not anticipate that we're going to get these or any others out of committees this
in the Endocannabinoid system. Sadly, this education is not always delivered from their year. It doesn't mean we're not going to work to try and fight for them, and continue
prior provider, but anybody who qualifies for a medical marijuana card in their home to educate these decision makers on the importance of the recognition of these and
state because of a medical condition should be allowed to access Florida’s program. Once other conditions. Other critical concerns such as “a Home Grow provision,” appro-
again, it's just the moral thing to do. priate job protections, and issues of social injustice/expungements will be a multi-
year long effort. Of course this is just a portion of the list of things that need to be
CNF: The third issue you mentioned is that a nursing care worker addressed. The most important thing is that everybody is pulling on the rope in the
should be able to administer cannabis to patients within the nursing “tug of war” together: advocates, educators, boots-on-the-ground doctors, and MTC
home environment. medical directors. Everybody needs to focus on the legislative session to see if we can
Dr. Gordon: One of the subtleties of the program is that you're only allowed to be a keep things moving in the right direction.
caregiver for one person. That makes it difficult for any type of nursing home facility to
have a nurse who's able to hand out five patches or even administer a tincture or cream For more information on Dr. Gordon’s
in that type of atmosphere. This is an issue that helps debilitated patients achieve positive practice, visit www.venicecare.com.
and safe results in the nursing home setting or the assisted living setting. Once again, it’s
an access issue for patients already being serviced by the program.

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34 October 2020 cannabisnewsflorida.com Cannabis News Florida