Florida Medical Marijuana Amendment

How it Works

On June 16, 2014, Florida became the 22nd state to legalize access to medical marijuana when Governor Rick Scott signed the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014. Patients suffering from cancer, epilepsy, chronic seizures, or muscle spasms could use low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis products prescribed by a licensed doctor. Doctors and patients had to register on the Compassionate Use Registry, an online database maintained by the Florida Department of Health. The governor also signed Senate Bill 1700, to protect the privacy of doctors prescribing low-THC marijuana and their patients.

The Florida Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative, Amendment 2 was placed on the ballot in November, 2014, but failed to win the required 60% majority of votes. The publicity surrounding this defeat helped to change the public attitude towards medical marijuana.

In March, 2016, State Bill 307 expanded access to full-strength medical marijuana to terminally ill patients who were determined by two doctors to have less than a year to live.

In November of 2016, 71% of Florida voters approved the Florida Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as Amendment 2.

A special legislative session in June, 2017, passed Senate Bill 8A (SB 8A), the Medical Use of Marijuana Act  to implement rules for making medical marijuana available to Floridians. The Florida Department of Health established the Office of Medical Marijuana Use to implement these rules, and changed the name of the Compassionate Use Registry to the Medical Marijuana Use Registry.