Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a motion Friday supporting the Florida Legislature’s ban on smokable medical marijuana.
“Notably, during discussion over the exclusion of smokable marijuana from medical use, legislators highlighted concerns about smoking as a form of medical treatment. Specifically, such concerns centered on the negative health effects of smoking,” wrote Bondi in her brief.
On Friday, Bondi’s office filed the brief with the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. The state is challenging a ruling from Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers. In May, Judge Gievers ruled that the smoking ban, passed by the Legislature in 2017, violated the 2016 constitutional amendment that passed with 71% of the vote.
In her brief, Bondi says it was well within the Legislature’s authority to exclude smokable medial marijuana for health reasons. She also argues that the voter-approved amendment does not create a right to smoke medical marijuana, writing, “Had the framers or voters intended to require the smoking of medical marijuana by adopting the Amendment, they could have done so. There was ample opportunity for smoking to be specifically provided for or required in the Amendment.”
FULL TEXT: https://edca.1dca.org/DCADocs/2018/2206/182206_115_08062018_09324218_e.pdf
In her brief, Bondi says it was well within the Legislature’s authority to exclude smokable medial marijuana for health reasons. She also argues that the voter-approved amendment does not create a right to smoke medical marijuana, writing, “Had the framers or voters intended to require the smoking of medical marijuana by adopting the Amendment, they could have done so. There was ample opportunity for smoking to be specifically provided for or required in the Amendment.”
FULL TEXT: https://edca.1dca.org/DCADocs/2018/2206/182206_115_08062018_09324218_e.pdf
Cox Media Group
