A thick, dank fog of hazy kush may be clouding the sunshine state soon. Governor Rick Scott signed a bill this past Monday that legalizes a specific strain of medical marijuana, making Florida the 23rd state in the U.S. to allow some form of cannabis treatment.
So is it time for all of us to light one up and rehang our dorm room Bob Marley posters? Not quite. The strain of cannabis approved by Senate Bills 1030 and 1700, nicknamed Charlotte’s Web, is bred to be high in cannabidiol (CBD) but low in THC—in other words, it might be a medical miracle, but this ganja won’t get you high.
Charlotte’s Web was developed to treat conditions like epilepsy, Lou Gehrig’s disease and cancer through the extraction and concentration of oils called Realm Oil and Alepsia. An estimated 125,000 children in Florida suffer from severe epilepsy, and though the medical claims of Charlotte’s Web have yet to be empirically proven, the drug’s approval is a huge boon for families fighting for treatment options. SB1030 allows patients to consume the drug through oil or vapor form, but as of yet it may not be smoked.
If you are sitting at home with your 6-foot crystal bong from Ecuador, blasted into the Stratosphere, thinking that this is a shallow victory for all the little Chief Keefs in SoFla, put your hemp shirt and marijuana leaf cap on because the going is about to get to tough.
The fight for larger medical pot legalization is still raging on with Amendment 2, a more sweeping piece of medical marijuana legislation, coming up in November. Amendment 2 is a referendum that would legalize further strains of marijuana for broader medical conditions, and the vote is in our hands.
The amendment needs 60 percent of Florida voters to affirm its adoption, but seeing as how this is one of our few chances to exercise direct democracy, the hope is that anyone with a soul or at least a blunt will turn out to vote.
Via: rhainorshine.blogspot.com
Some Democrats are speculating that the approval of Charlotte’s Web was a calculated move by the Florida GOP to placate some of the louder proponents of medical marijuana in order for Amendment 2 to lose traction. The non-euphoric strain has a limited use, and its production is tightly regulated. Only nurseries that have been operating for 30+ years would be eligible for licenses to grow, which leaves only 5 locations available.
Needless to say, if you aren’t suffering from a severe medical condition even Amendment 2 isn’t going to stick a doobie in your hands. That doesn’t mean we should be satisfied with piecemeal begrudging half-measures. Thanks to Charlotte’s Web, tens of thousands of Floridians will find themselves in better health. If you’d like to see more citizens reap the medical (and maybe one day recreational) benefits of marijuana, keep your eye on the prize and get ready to vote!
Featured photo courtesy of: freakingnews.com
