Florida Senate - 2014                                    SB 1030
       
       
        
       By Senators Bradley, Bean, and Brandes
       
       
       
       
       
       7-01036C-14                                           20141030__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to medical-grade marijuana and
    3         cannabis; creating s. 456.60, F.S.; defining terms;
    4         authorizing specified physicians to prescribe to
    5         specified patients medical-grade marijuana; providing
    6         conditions; providing duties of the Department of
    7         Health; requiring the department to create a
    8         compassionate use registry; providing requirements for
    9         the registry; requiring the department to authorize a
   10         specified number of dispensing organizations;
   11         providing requirements and duties for a dispensing
   12         organization; providing exceptions to specified laws;
   13         amending s. 893.02, F.S.; revising the definition of
   14         the term “cannabis” for purposes of the Florida
   15         Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act
   16         and as applicable to certain criminal offenses
   17         proscribing the sale, manufacture, delivery,
   18         possession, or purchase of cannabis, to which
   19         penalties apply; providing an effective date.
   20          
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Section 456.60, Florida Statutes, is created to
   24  read:
   25         456.60 Compassionate use of medical-grade marijuana.—
   26         (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   27         (a) “Dispensing organization” means an organization
   28  approved by the department to cultivate, process, and dispense
   29  medical-grade marijuana pursuant to this section.
   30         (b) “Medical-grade marijuana” means a substance that
   31  contains no more than 0.5 percent or less of any
   32  tetrahydrocannabinol and at least 15 percent cannabidiol and
   33  that is dispensed only from a dispensing organization.
   34         (c) “Medical use” means administration of the prescribed
   35  amount of medical-grade marijuana. The term does not include the
   36  possession, use, or administration by smoking. The term also
   37  does not include the transfer of medical-grade marijuana to a
   38  person other than the qualified patient to whom it was
   39  prescribed or the qualified patient’s legal representative on
   40  behalf of the qualified patient.
   41         (d) “Qualified patient” means a resident of this state who
   42  has been added to the compassionate use registry by a physician
   43  licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 to receive medical
   44  grade marijuana from a dispensing organization.
   45         (e) “Smoking” means burning or igniting a substance and
   46  inhaling the smoke. Smoking does not include the use of a
   47  vaporizer.
   48         (2) PHYSICIAN PRESCRIBING.—A physician licensed under
   49  chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has examined and treated a
   50  patient suffering from a physical medical condition, or from
   51  treatment for a medical condition, which chronically produces
   52  symptoms of seizures or severe and persistent muscle spasms may
   53  prescribe for the patient’s medical use medical-grade marijuana
   54  to treat or alleviate such symptoms if no other satisfactory
   55  alternative treatment options exist for that patient and all of
   56  the following conditions apply:
   57         (a) The patient is a permanent resident of this state.
   58         (b) The physician has treated the patient for his or her
   59  symptoms or a medical condition in which his or her symptoms
   60  were present for at least 6 months.
   61         (c) The physician has tried alternate treatment options
   62  that have not alleviated the patient’s symptoms.
   63         (d) The physician determines the risks of prescribing
   64  medical-grade marijuana are reasonable in light of the potential
   65  benefit for that patient. If a patient is younger than 18 years
   66  of age, a second physician must concur with this determination,
   67  and such determination must be documented in the patient’s
   68  medical record.
   69         (e) The physician registers as the prescriber of medical
   70  grade marijuana for the named patient on the compassionate use
   71  registry maintained by the department and updates the registry
   72  to reflect the prescription contents as prescribed. The
   73  physician shall inactivate the patient’s registration when
   74  treatment is discontinued.
   75         (f) The physician maintains a patient treatment plan that
   76  includes the dose, route of administration, planned duration,
   77  and monitoring of the patient’s symptoms and other indicators of
   78  tolerance or reaction to the medical-grade marijuana.
   79         (g) The physician submits the patient treatment plan
   80  quarterly to the University of Florida College of Pharmacy for
   81  research on the safety and efficacy of medical-grade marijuana
   82  on patients with such symptoms.
   83         (3) DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT.—The department shall:
   84         (a) Create a secure, electronic, and online compassionate
   85  use registry for the registration of physicians and patients as
   86  provided under this section. The registry must be accessible to
   87  law enforcement agencies and to a dispensing organization in
   88  order to verify patient authorization for medical-grade
   89  marijuana and record the medical-grade marijuana dispensed. The
   90  registry must prevent an active registration of a patient by
   91  multiple physicians.
   92         (b) Authorize at least one, but no more than four,
   93  dispensing organizations, to ensure reasonable statewide
   94  accessibility and availability as necessary for patients
   95  registered in the compassionate use registry and who are
   96  prescribed medical-grade marijuana under this section. The
   97  department shall develop an application form and impose an
   98  initial application and biennial renewal fee that is sufficient
   99  to cover the costs of administering this section. An applicant
  100  for approval as a dispensing organization must be able to
  101  demonstrate:
  102         1. The technical and technological ability to cultivate and
  103  produce medical-grade marijuana.
  104         2. The ability to secure the premises, resources, and
  105  personnel necessary to operate as a dispensing organization.
  106         3. The ability to maintain accountability of raw materials,
  107  finished product, and any byproducts to prevent diversion or
  108  unlawful access to or possession of these substances.
  109         4. An infrastructure reasonably located to dispense
  110  medical-grade marijuana to registered patients statewide or
  111  regionally as determined by the department.
  112         5. The financial ability to maintain operations for the
  113  duration of the 2-year approval cycle.
  114         6. That all owners, managers, and employees have been
  115  fingerprinted and successfully passed background screening
  116  pursuant to s. 435.04.
  117         7. Additional criteria determined by the department to be
  118  necessary to safely implement this section.
  119         (c) Monitor physician registration and prescribing of
  120  medical-grade marijuana for prescribing practices which could
  121  facilitate unlawful diversion or misuse of medical-grade
  122  marijuana, and take disciplinary action as indicated.
  123         (4) DISPENSING ORGANIZATION.—An approved dispensing
  124  organization shall maintain compliance with the criteria
  125  demonstrated for selection and approval under subsection (3) as
  126  a dispensing organization at all times. Before dispensing
  127  medical-grade marijuana to a qualified patient, the dispensing
  128  organization shall verify that the patient has an active
  129  registration in the compassionate use registry, the prescription
  130  presented matches the prescription contents as recorded in the
  131  registry, and the prescription has not already been filled. Upon
  132  dispensing the medical-grade marijuana, the dispensing
  133  organization shall record in the registry the date, time,
  134  quantity, and form of medical-grade marijuana dispensed.
  135         (5) EXCEPTIONS TO OTHER SECTIONS OF LAW.—
  136         (a) Notwithstanding any other section of law, but subject
  137  to the requirements of this section, a qualified patient and the
  138  qualified patient’s legal representative may purchase, acquire,
  139  and possess for the patient’s medical use up to the amount of
  140  medical-grade marijuana prescribed to the patient.
  141         (b) Notwithstanding any other section of law, but subject
  142  to the requirements of this section, an approved dispensing
  143  organization and its owners, managers, and employees may
  144  acquire, possess, cultivate, and lawfully dispose of excess
  145  product in reasonable quantities to produce medical-grade
  146  marijuana and possess, process, and dispense medical-grade
  147  marijuana.
  148         (c) An approved dispensing organization is not subject to
  149  licensure and regulation under chapter 465, and the owners,
  150  managers, and employees of a dispensing organization are not
  151  subject to licensure and regulation for the practice of pharmacy
  152  under chapter 465.
  153         Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 893.02, Florida
  154  Statutes, is amended to read:
  155         893.02 Definitions.—The following words and phrases as used
  156  in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless the
  157  context otherwise requires:
  158         (3) “Cannabis” means all parts of any plant of the genus
  159  Cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin
  160  extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound,
  161  manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the
  162  plant or its seeds or resin. The term does not include any plant
  163  of the genus Cannabis that contains 0.5 percent or less of
  164  tetrahydrocannabinol and more than 15 percent of cannabidiol;
  165  the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such
  166  plant; or any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture,
  167  or preparation of such plant or its seeds or resin, if possessed
  168  or used in conformance with s. 456.60.
  169         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.