Florida’s Right to Try Act to Include Medical Marijuana

Introduction 

The state government of Florida is structured to have three distinct government arms that aid in the legislation of laws, the governance of state affairs, and the criminal justice system that plays the role of dispensing justice in the state. This research paper will do a sizeable Legislative Matrix in the state of Florida and discuss the role played by the legislature in the state and the governor’s office in ensuring that the state has good laws that help in the promotion of health in the state.

Leaders and representatives of the state of Florida

• Governor is Ron DeSantis
• Senators are two namely Marco Rubio and Rick Scott
• There are a total of state representatives in the state of Florida

The use and abuse of drugs have been a major social issue is the state of Florida and the governor as well as the state legislature have been coming up with ways of riding their state of drugs for a long time now. The state police department has over the years played a very crucial role in eliminating drugs, and it can be reported that the state has been seeing a downward trend in cases of drug abuse in the major cities across the state.

However, there has been some scientific development that has shown that marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes in events of terminal diseases that cause much pain to a victim such as cancer. This is what led some leaders such as Matthew Louis Gaetz II from the first district to start thinking of ways they can make the use of medical marijuana legal in the state of Florida. To this end, Gaetz supported the rescheduling of marijuana from a Schedule I drug that contains all prohibited substances to a Schedule III drug. This last category of substances enabled more research and the expanded use of cannabis for medical purposes. He went on to sponsor a bill that sought to expand Florida’s Right to Try Act in 2015. This bill sought to increase the use of marijuana by including it in a list of substances that can be legally used for medicinal purposes. This bill was debated and passed by the legislature, and it was eventually assented to by the state governor in 2016. 

The chief merit of this bill that became effective June 23, 2017, was that it provided an exemption from the tax levied on the sale, use and other transactions done for the sole purpose of medical marijuana in the state of Florida. The law also made it possible for people to trade in, use, and distribute marijuana for medical purposes in the state of Florida without being subjected to arrests and harassment by law enforcing agents within the state. 

 The committee members who played a significant role in the passing of this bill included 

• Neal Dunn of Republican Party
• Ted Yoho of Republican Party 
• John Rutherford Of Republican Party
• Al Lawson of Democrat Party
• Michael Waltz of Republican Party
• Stephanie Murphy of Democrat Party
• Bill Posey Republican party

These representatives discussed the bill in its totality, giving more credence to the merits and demerits of legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes in the state of Florida. They concluded that the medicinal value of the drug would play a significant role in ensuring that people did not know surfer in pain.  They then proposed to the state legislature to vote for the bill, and they were successful. This led to the bill to be passed and ratified by the governor.