Legislation that will allow physicians to renew patients medical marijuana cards via telehealth has been signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Today is historic,” said state Representative Spencer Roach, the prime sponsor of House Bill 387. “Gov. DeSantis continues to demonstrate his commitment to expanding patient access to medicine, in alignment with the overwhelming majority of Florida voters.”
HB 387, which goes into effect on July 1, allows licensed physicians to use telehealth options such as Zoom when renewing a patient’s medical marijuana authorization card during annual renewals. The law does not, however, allow physicians to use telehealth when first authorizing a patient to use medical marijuana.
Representative Roach has pointed out that during an eight-month period of the pandemic telehealth was allowed for medical marijuana renewal, and the state “really didn’t see any problems”. Representative Roach notes that House Bill 387 “would treat the use of medical marijuana just like other medicines in the state of Florida.”
A provision of the bill that was added via an approved amendment will work to ensure that more black farmers are allowed to take part in the legal medical marijuana industry.
“This was a major step for the Legislature to fix a years-long process,” said Senator Tracie Davis. “These Black farmers have been waiting, with litigation going on for years. It was time for us to correct the wrong.”
Florida first legalized medical marijuana through the passage of Amendment 2 in 2016. Since then nearly 800,000 people have become authorized medical marijuana patients, based on state data.
You can find the full text of House Bill 387 by clicking here.
