Amendment 2

From local courtrooms to the U.S. Supreme Court, thousands of lawsuits are on the docket in Florida for 2018. In the first of a three-part series on some of the higher-profile cases, it’s the limbo involving 2016’s Amendment 2.

Seventy one percent of voters approved expanding Florida’s existing medical marijuana law beyond those who are terminally ill and with less than a year to live. Amendment-2 includes patients with HIV/AIDS, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Lou Gehrig’s, Crohn’s and Parkinson’s diseases, among others.

Florida’s constitutional amendment expanding the scope of medical marijuana in the state took effect last week. Lawmakers now have six months to come up new rules for governing the industry.

In the meantime, local governments across Northwest Florida are taking a variety of approaches as to the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries and many are considering temporary moratoriums.

Voters across Florida are deciding if it will become the 24th state, and the first in the Southeast, to have a comprehensive medical marijuana program.

In a nutshell, Amendment 2 would allow the medical use of marijuana for individuals with debilitating diseases, as determined by a licensed Florida doctor. The amendment was proposed by John Morgan, a trial attorney from Orlando.