Page 29 - Florida Sentinel 3-25-22

FAMU News
Using Medical Cannabis In Florida? Know The Rules To Avoid Arrest
Editor’s note: This commen- tary is provided by the Medical Marijuana Education and Re- search Initiative (MMERI) of Florida A&M University.
What some medical mari- juana patients may not realize is that a registry identification card is not a license to openly smoke cannabis. Nor does it allow them to use legal treatments other than those recommended to them by a qualified medical marijuana physician.
More importantly, cardhold- ers can run afoul of law enforce- ment just like anyone else in Florida, if they’re caught with recreational pot, even if they’re using it strictly for medicinal pur- poses.
If all of this comes as a sur- prise to you, you’re not alone. But ignorance of the state’s medical marijuana and illegal marijuana laws is not a sound defense as far as the criminal justice system is concerned.
Ron O’Brien has spent seven of his 24 years with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) in the narcotics unit, and he’s currently the chief of the LCSO’s Department of Special Operations and Investigations. He advises anyone interested in using medical marijuana to go to the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use website, www.knowthefactsmmj.- com, to learn how the state regu- lates it.
“There are rules on where you can take your medicine,” says Chief O’Brien. “For instance, if you're prescribed smokable mari- juana, you cannot use that in a public place or on a bus or things like that.”
Medical marijuana patients who smoke cannabis in their cars or in open areas run the risk of being stopped by police, with the interaction possibly leading to a search and arrest. Chief O’Brien says law enforcement officers can access medical marijuana registry records to confirm a patient’s rec- ommended treatment includes smokable cannabis.
“So, if you're prescribed edi- bles and you have marijuana in your possession that's in a smok- able form, it's illegal because you weren't prescribed that form,” he says.
But what about when police suspect a patient authorized to smoke medical cannabis is actu- ally using illegal marijuana? Both look and smell the same. Making that determination was impossi- ble, says Chief O’Brien, until po- lice were equipped with new field tests kits that could determine lev- els of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient that produces the high.
Medical cannabis cannot ex- ceed 0.3% THC.
Byrallaine “BeBe” Bell has had first-hand experiences with medical marijuana cardholders who were stopped by police for smoking cannabis while driving. She’s the owner of BeBe Bail
BYRALLAINE “BEBE” BELL
Bonds in Tampa.
“They didn't think that there
was an issue with them being able to carry their marijuana and smoke it,” she says.
Adds Chief O’Brien: “The medical use law does not exempt a person from prosecution for a criminal offense or a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) related to impairment or intoxication re- sulting from the medical use of marijuana.”
Bell says the consequences of marijuana-related arrests can be
CHIEF RON O’BRIEN
devastating.
“An arrest for drugs, whether
it's for a small amount or whether it's a major amount, changes your life as far as employment goes. Most lose their jobs because they have gone to jail and missed work,” she explains.
The bail bondswoman and the law enforcement officer are wary of legalizing recreational mari- juana in Florida.
“I believe it would increase vi- olent crimes because everyone's going to start trying to sell it,” says
Bell.
Chief O’Brien voices similar
concerns, saying legalization of adult-use marijuana would come with limitations on its potency. “Then there will be a market for that higher grade marijuana,” he says, and that void would be filled by the illegal drug trade.
“The fact of the matter is that there is a nexus between violent crime and marijuana, at least here in Leon County, and it's because of the money, not the drug itself,” he says.
On the issue of the racial dis- parity between Blacks and Whites arrested for marijuana possession, the two offer unique perspectives. Bell suspects environmental and cultural factors leave Black neigh- borhoods more exposed to polic- ing while O’Brien sees myriad causes at work.
“Most of the people I deal with are from the inner city,” says Bell. “Everything is done hanging out on the corner. Certain corners are just hot spots where you hang out and everything is done there in the community, from barbecuing
to buying and selling cannabis. You name it, it's done on the cor- ner. So, there's this huge exposure to law enforcement who patrol those areas.”
Chief O’Brien doesn’t dis- agree with Bell’s perspective, but he finds the racial disparity prob- lem far more complex.
“It gets a lot of thought and a lot of attention, I can tell you that. But it's very complex, and there's no one specific answer to put an end to racial disparity,” he says.
Visit https://bit.ly/3 KPJVb1
to watch MMERI’s Conversations on Cannabis Virtual Forum on YouTube featuring Chief Ron O’Brien with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and bail bond agent Byrallaine “BeBe” Bell, owner of BeBe Bailsbonds.
For more information on medical marijuana and to sign up for the MMERI newsletter, go to http://mmeri.famu.edu.
[EDITOR’S NOTE - Link: https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=Bhw7GnpLAXw]
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