A top Florida Senate panel on Thursday passed Republican legislation to legalize medical marijuana for terminally-ill patients.
Should it become law, the bill could erode support for a more sweeping constitutional amendment on medical marijuana appearing on the November ballot.
The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee voted unanimously to send SB 460 to the Senate floor for debate. It's passage appears as much an act of compassion for Floridians who have been given a year or less to live as an effort to stem the tide of broader medical marijuana legalization.
"If we just take the idea that, 'hey, it's a free market, let's just let the free market decide how we handle cannabis in Florida', then we will, I promise you, tomorrow turn into Colorado," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Rob Bradley (R-Fleming Island).
The ballot initiative, which this week was certified by the Florida Department of State as Amendment 2, would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients suffering from a "debilitating medical condition."
That definition would almost certainly balloon the number of eligible patients far beyond those affected by SB 460.
Conservatives opposed to Amendment 2 are optimistic that the bill could satisfy many voters who would otherwise be inclined to support the amendment, thereby reducing its chances of passage.
Not everyone, however, agrees.
"I would just as soon not support a constitutional amendment, but I think the Legislature needs to show that they're willing to pass more than what just passed out of here today," said Ron Watson of the Florida Medical Cannabis Association. Watson is a Republican who four years ago lost his son to leukemia, a condition not always classified as terminal.
"I mean, I understand that argument, but as the bill sits now, I don't think it goes nearly far enough."