A Republican state lawmaker has come out in support of a medical marijuana ballot initiative. Florida voters will decide on the measure this November.
When medical marijuana activists put their initiative on the 2014 ballot, Republican state lawmakers were lukewarm if not outright hostile. But after two years of slow progress on the issue in the statehouse, St. Petersburg Senator Jeff Brandes is backing the amendment.
“We need to learn from the many other states that have already gone down this road and take the best practices and bring them to Florida,” Brandes says. “That’s what I’m in favor of that’s what I think amendment two will allow and that’s why I’ve decided to have the courage of my convictions and support it.”
State lawmakers first approved a limited medical marijuana program in 2014, but the roll out was so hobbled that patients had to wait until July of this year to get their hands on the treatment.
