skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Cannabis Advocates Blame Fla. Officials for 'Reefer Madness'

play audio
Play

Tuesday, April 24, 2018   

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida's Medical Cannabis Registry reached a milestone recently with more than 100,000 patients signed up for treatment.

Advocates of cannabis use say that number would've been four times as much if it weren't for state officials searching for ways to restrict use. Nearly two years after voters approved medical marijuana, Florida's Department of Health has been slow to publish regulations for patients, doctors and suppliers. Regulators are fighting a series of legal challenges about the new law.

Christopher Cano, executive director of Central Florida NORML, a local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said patients are also discouraged by excessive costs.

"You have dispensaries charging people $700 to buy a vaporizer that could vape those flower-based medicines," Cano said. "I mean, the cost is probably the biggest hindrance of why there aren't 400,000 patients in the registry right now."

Florida law says the state is supposed to be issuing new licenses to growers and entrepreneurs based on the number of patients in the system. However, the department requires each patient to be active, and so far, just over 75,000 registered patients have been issued IDs to receive treatment.

According to Cano, the limited number of suppliers in the market is causing prices to stay high. He described Florida as nowhere near being on par compared with other states when it comes to successfully regulating use.

"All in all, the issues that we see in the Florida medical marijuana system are due to poor regulations, and a poor job by the Office of Medical Marijuana Use," he said, "and that really does fall back on the executive branch."

The state is appealing a decision by Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers to allow a cancer survivor, Joe Redner, to grow his own marijuana. His doctors argued that juicing marijuana plants was the best source of treatment for his cancer.

Gievers also reminded the Department of Health that it has a duty to enable "the availability and safe use of medical marijuana by qualifying patients."




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021