A bill aimed at getting Floridians access to a type of medical marijuana that doesn’t get people high advanced past its first House committee with near-unanimous support today. But its sponsor acknowledges changes are likely in store after fellow lawmakers on the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee raised concerns.
The committee voted 12-to-1 to advance the medical marijuana bill.
Moments later, Peyton and Holley Moseley stepped out into the hallway. Peyton had tears in the corners of his eyes.
“I’m the crier of the two of us," he says, "but our love for our daughter just overflows and the other kids in our state and families that struggle every day.”
The Moseleys traveled from a Pensacola suburb to testify about their daughter RayAnn, who they say has seizures all day long. After they saw kids in Colorado taking an oil made from a marijuana strain they began hoping their daughter could also take what’s commonly known as “Charlotte’s Web."
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fort Walton Beach) originally drafted a bill legalizing similar marijuana strains: those with a high level of CBD, a chemical research suggests can help with seizures and other medical issues, but a low level of THC, the chemical that induces a high. But after other lawmakers raised concerns, Gaetz offered a different bill Wednesday. Instead of outright legalization, it gives people a medical defense to offer if police find them in possession of the drug.
"Yes, it’s a bit of a give for the parents to say, ‘This is not a legal substance but if I’m arrested for it, I’m not going to be made a criminal,'" he acknowledges.
Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford says Gaetz’s new idea is the right way to bring medical marijuana to Florida.
“We see and have seen evidence of the importance of passing this bill even with all of the issues—hopefully we can straighten out a lot of the distribution and other issues that you heard raised in there today. We’re confident that we can work through this," he says.
Gaetz says the compromise was the best way to continue preventing widespread marijuana use but still allow access for people like the Moseleys. Peyton Moseley says he’s OK with the bill’s new form—even if that means he’ll have to get arrested to use the defense.
“Then that’s something we would certainly be willing to risk, absolutely,” he says. “We would do anything for our child. She doesn’t have a lot of time left if some changes aren’t made.”
But Rep. Kionne McGhee (D-Miami) says that’s not acceptable. Even though he voted to keep the bill moving through the House, he says it should revert to outright legalization for the patients’ sake.
He asked, “Mr. Gaetz, are we adding an additional burden to the families who are already struggling with these fees to take care of their kids and their ill family members when we ask them to assert an affirmative defense in the court system?”
Rep. Gayle Harrell (R-Port Saint Lucie) was the committee’s sole “no” vote. After tearfully telling the testifying families she wants to help them, she offered an alternative to Gaetz’s plan: funding pilot studies the families could participate in through Florida’s public universities.
“You’ve got many major universities. If you really want to solve a problem and just not legalize marijuana then you need to do it appropriately," she said.
The bill already includes $1 million to fund a childhood epilepsy treatment study. But Harrell also objects to its lack of regulations for growers and distributors to keep the product safe for the user. Gaetz says he’s open to adding more rules, though he added, “There’s no reason that I’ve heard of that would indicate that we would have to have any increased oversight or regulation of physicians any more than if a physician were to give somebody a Flintstones vitamin.”
