Cannabis advocates in conservative Oklahoma scored a win with the passage of the state\u2019s medical marijuana initiative, Question 788, in last month\u2019s primary election. But now they\u2019ve been hit with a setback as the state Health Board decreed that retail sales of smokable cannabis will be excluded from the program. And the problem isn\u2019t unique to Oklahoma \u2014 as medical marijuana patients in Florida are continuing to fight the state government in the courts over their right to smokable cannabis.<\/p>\n
The law that voters approved actually\u00a0included provisions<\/a>\u00a0for possession of up to eight ounces and six mature plants. But on July 10, the\u00a0Oklahoma Board of Health<\/a>, weighing implementing regulations for the new law, voted to place a ban on the sale of smokable forms of cannabis.<\/p>\n Patients who want to grow their own cannabis to smoke still will be allowed to. But this decision will mean hardship for many, cannabis advocates say.\u00a0The Oklahoman<\/a>, in reporting the news, quoted Raymond Jennings of Broken Arrow, who credits inhaling cannabis with allowing him to survive cancer and chemotherapy treatments. \u201cI can tell you, without smoking marijuana, I wouldn\u2019t be here today,\u201d he told the newspaper. \u201cIt\u2019s the only thing that stopped the nausea.\u201d<\/p>\n Also quoted was Health Board member Chuck Skilings, who said that allowing the sale of smokable cannabis would be a step backward for public health. \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re protecting the public that doesn\u2019t smoke,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re imposing a hazard.\u201d Yet\u00a0cigarettes<\/a>, of course, are freely available in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n Julie Ezell, the state Health Department\u2019s general counsel, meanwhile warned that the edict is in conflict with the language of Question 788, and therefore may not survive a legal challenge.<\/p>\n And that challenge is likely coming. A lawsuit has already been broached by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. \u201cThe health department shouldn\u2019t pretend to be everyone\u2019s doctor,\u201d said Ryan Kiesel of the\u00a0Oklahoma ACLU<\/a>. \u201cSmokeable marijuana or marijuana products derived from the smokeable parts of the plant are the best delivery systems for some patients. And, those need to be made on a case-by-case basis,\u201d he told Oklahoma\u2019s\u00a0News 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n But this very issue was just heard by a court in Florida \u2014 which upheld an even more restrictive law, at least for now.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee on July 3 refused to grant an injunction allowing the use of smokable cannabis, finding that litigants challenging this restriction in the state law were not likely to win.<\/p>\n Medical marijuana became law in the Sunshine State with voter approval of Amendment 2 in November 2016. But the state legislature later imposed a total ban on the use of smokeable forms under the program. This has been enforced\u00a0by the state Health Department, which has\u00a0issued orders<\/a>\u00a0to dispensaries to desist from selling \u201cwhole flower\u201d products. This policy comes despite the fact that vaping is permitted under the Florida law, and retailers said that was what the bud was intended for.<\/p>\n As the\u00a0Tampa Bay Times<\/a>\u00a0reports, the case was brought by Orlando lawyer John Morgan and others who asserted that the ban on smokable cannabis violated the will of the voters. A lower court in Leon County found in their favor in May, but the state appealed.<\/p>\n Cathy Jordan, one of the plaintiffs in the case, testified that smoked cannabis has kept her alive decades after doctors predicted she would die from Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n The case remains pending, as do other legal challenges to the Florida restriction.<\/p>\n In addition to Florida, states with \u201cmedical marijuana\u201d programs that bar use of smokable cannabis\u00a0include<\/a>\u00a0New York, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, do you think medical marijuana patients should have the access to smokable cannabis?<\/p>\n The post Oklahoma & Florida Roll Back Access to Smokable Medical Marijuana<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Cannabis advocates in conservative Oklahoma scored a win with the passage of the state\u2019s medical marijuana initiative, Question 788, in last month\u2019s primary election. But now they\u2019ve been hit with a setback as the state Health Board decreed that retail sales of smokable cannabis will be excluded from the program.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1140,50,4934,388,1986,53,139,884,208,539,2554,4935,285,4936,4514,457],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27819"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27820,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27819\/revisions\/27820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Smokable Cannabis Reversal in Florida Courts<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Oklahoma & Florida Roll Back Access to Smokable Medical Marijuana<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"