FLORIDA STATEMARIJUANA LEGAL REGULATIONS

The 2019 Florida Statutes

DEFINITIONS
(a) “Caregiver” means a resident of this state who has agreed to assist with a qualified patient’s medical use of marijuana, has a caregiver identification card, and meets the requirements of subsection (6).

(b) “Chronic nonmalignant pain” means pain that is caused by a qualifying medical condition or that originates from a qualifying medical condition and persists beyond the usual course of that qualifying medical condition.

(c) “Close relative” means a spouse, parent, sibling, grandparent, child, or grandchild, whether related by whole or half blood, by marriage, or by adoption.

(d) “Edibles” means commercially produced food items made with marijuana oil, but no other form of marijuana, that are produced and dispensed by a medical marijuana treatment center.

(e) “Low-THC cannabis” means a plant of the genus Cannabis, the dried flowers of which contain 0.8 percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol and more than 10 percent of cannabidiol weight for weight; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; or any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant or its seeds or resin that is dispensed from a medical marijuana treatment center.

(f) “Marijuana” means all parts of any plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant or its seeds or resin, including low-THC cannabis, which are dispensed from a medical marijuana treatment center for medical use by a qualified patient.

(g) “Marijuana delivery device” means an object used, intended for use, or designed for use in preparing, storing, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing marijuana into the human body, and which is dispensed from a medical marijuana treatment center for medical use by a qualified patient, except that delivery devices intended for the medical use of marijuana by smoking need not be dispensed from a medical marijuana treatment center in order to qualify as marijuana delivery devices.

(h) “Marijuana testing laboratory” means a facility that collects and analyzes marijuana samples from a medical marijuana treatment center and has been certified by the department pursuant to s. 381.988.

(i) “Medical director” means a person who holds an active, unrestricted license as an allopathic physician under chapter 458 or osteopathic physician under chapter 459 and is in compliance with the requirements of paragraph (3)(c).

(j) “Medical use” means the acquisition, possession, use, delivery, transfer, or administration of marijuana authorized by a physician certification. The term does not include:

1. Possession, use, or administration of marijuana that was not purchased or acquired from a medical marijuana treatment center.

2. Possession, use, or administration of marijuana in the form of commercially produced food items other than edibles or of marijuana seeds.

3. Use or administration of any form or amount of marijuana in a manner that is inconsistent with the qualified physician’s directions or physician certification.

4. Transfer of marijuana to a person other than the qualified patient for whom it was authorized or the qualified patient’s caregiver on behalf of the qualified patient.

5. Use or administration of marijuana in the following locations:

a. On any form of public transportation, except for low-THC cannabis not in a form for smoking.

b. In any public place, except for low-THC cannabis not in a form for smoking.

c. In a qualified patient’s place of employment, except when permitted by his or her employer.

d. In a state correctional institution, as defined in s. 944.02, or a correctional institution, as defined in s. 944.241.

e. On the grounds of a preschool, primary school, or secondary school, except as provided in s. 1006.062.

f. In a school bus, a vehicle, an aircraft, or a motorboat, except for low-THC cannabis not in a form for smoking.

6. The smoking of marijuana in an enclosed indoor workplace as defined in s. 386.203(5).

(k) “Physician certification” means a qualified physician’s authorization for a qualified patient to receive marijuana and a marijuana delivery device from a medical marijuana treatment center.

(l) “Qualified patient” means a resident of this state who has been added to the medical marijuana use registry by a qualified physician to receive marijuana or a marijuana delivery device for a medical use and who has a qualified patient identification card.

(m) “Qualified physician” means a person who holds an active, unrestricted license as an allopathic physician under chapter 458 or as an osteopathic physician under chapter 459 and is in compliance with the physician education requirements of subsection (3).

(n) “Smoking” means burning or igniting a substance and inhaling the smoke.

(o) “Terminal condition” means a progressive disease or medical or surgical condition that causes significant functional impairment, is not considered by a treating physician to be reversible without the administration of life-sustaining procedures, and will result in death within 1 year after diagnosis if the condition runs its normal course.

QUALIFYING MEDICAL CONDITIONS

A patient must be diagnosed with at least one of the following conditions to qualify to receive marijuana or a marijuana delivery device:

(a) Cancer.

(b) Epilepsy.

(d) Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus.

(e) Acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

(f) Posttraumatic stress disorder.

(g) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

(h) Crohn’s disease.

(i) Parkinson’s disease.

(j) Multiple sclerosis.

(k) Medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated in paragraphs (a)-(j).

(l) A terminal condition diagnosed by a physician other than the qualified physician issuing the physician certification.

(m) Chronic nonmalignant pain.

PATIENT POSSESSION LIMITS

Patients who possess a physician’s recommendation may legally obtain medical cannabis provided by state licensed dispensaries. A qualified physician may not issue a physician certification for more than three 70-day supply limits of marijuana. The Department of Health shall quantify by rule a daily dose amount with equivalent dose amounts for each allowable form of marijuana dispensed by a medical marijuana treatment center. A 2017 law enacted by the legislature barring the inhalation of herbal forms of medical cannabis was amended in 2018 by SB 182. The measure permits qualified patients are permitted to possess up to four ounces of herbal cannabis if a recommending physician opines “that the benefits of smoking marijuana for medical use outweigh the risks for the qualified patient.”