Pubdate: Sat, 03 May 2014
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2014 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Author: John Kennedy
Page: A10

BILL ALLOWING LOW-GRADE POT GETS FINAL PASSAGE

Senator Thwarts Bid to Open Production to More Growers.

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Senate voted 30-9 Friday to allow doctors 
to prescribe low-THC medical marijuana to patients suffering from 
cancer or epilepsy.

The move came after Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, beat back 
efforts to open marijuana production to more growers in Florida. 
Bradley warned that the late-hour amendment could endanger the 
legislation, which cleared the House on a 111-7 vote Thursday.

"We're at day 60," Bradley said of the two month session. "Don't let 
perfect be the enemy of the good."

The bill (SB 1030) now goes to Gov. Rick Scott, who has said he will 
sign it into law.

Beginning in January 2015, doctors treating patients for cancer or 
"severe and persistent muscle spasms" associated with epilepsy could 
prescribe the low-THC marijuana. Under the bill, only Florida 
residents could obtain a prescription.

The bill puts other strong restrictions on the use of the drug. It 
can have no more than 0.8 percent THC, the chemical that makes users 
feel high. On average, marijuana has about 15 percent THC, according 
to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The strain has normal levels 
of cannabidiol, or CBD, which is used to treat seizures.

Also, people would not be able to just walk into a doctor's office 
and get a prescription. Only doctors have who have been providing 
ongoing treatment of a patient can prescribe it, and only as a last 
resort if other treatments aren't effective.

The bill also would require the state to maintain a registry of 
eligible patients. The marijuana can't be smoked and would be 
converted into an oil. Only four dispensaries would be allowed in the 
state, and they would be highly regulated. And only nurseries that 
have existed in the state for 30 years could grow it, a provision 
that concerned lawmakers because it would severely limit the number 
of potential growers.

After the vote, RayAnn Moseley, an 11-year-old girl who has up to 300 
seizures a week, gave key lawmakers paintings she made of the sun 
shining and the words "RAY OF HOPE."

Her parents, Peyton and Holley Moseley, have been fighting to get the 
bill passed, and Bradley said he has kept a photo of the girl on his 
desk since meeting her father.

"I'm looking forward to the day RayAnn gets to take her first 
treatment and to next year be able to come back and brag and say, 'Oh 
my goodness! Look at her now!'" Holley Mosely said. "It makes me 
proud for her. She's changing Florida law. She's making history here."

The Associated Press contributed to this story
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