Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed into law a medical marijuana use
bill following an over 70 per cent in
favor of amending the Florida Constitution to allow medical marijuana use as
prescribed by a licensed Florida physician. Florida joins 27 other states that recognize
some form of marijuana use. A qualifying patient must have a “debilitating
medical condition,” defined as: cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, PTSD,
ALS, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other
debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class or comparable to
those enumerated. What constitutes “other debilitating medical conditions” remains
to be seen. Florida still bans marijuana smoking. Legal marijuana may only be
consumed in oil or edible form. Meanwhile, the Federal Controlled Substance
Act, marijuana is still a Schedule I hallucinogen and its use is still illegal
despite the legalization of its use in many states. Unlike some state laws, the
Florida statute does not require an employer to accommodate on-site medical use
of marijuana. Florida employers thus have no legal duty under this new law to
allow employees to consume medical marijuana at the workplace.