Medical Marijuana Update

They're trying again in North Caroliina, a Florida group wants to put a home grow initiative on the ballot, and more.

Colorado Legislative Committee Kills Medical Marijuana Expansion. A bill to expand access to medical marijuana was shot down by the first committee to consider it on Thursday. The measure, Senate Bill 81, sought to increase the amount of medical marijuana concentrate a patient can buy per day and allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana via virtual telehealth appointments for some patients, among other changes. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee killed the bill at the request of bill sponsor Sen. Kevin Van Winkle (R), who said he was not able to reach agreement with opponents to move the measure forward. Van Winkle said he would be back to try again.

Florida

Florida Campaign Seeks to Put Medical Marijuana Home Grow Initiative on 2024 Ballot. A group calling itself the WISE and Free Florida Committee is getting a campaign underway for a constitutional amendment initiative that would allow "caregivers and adult qualifying patients 21 years or older to cultivate marijuana for medical use" and would note that cultivation would be "limited to the cultivator’s home." To clear the first hurdle on its path, the campaign must come up with more than 291,000 valid voter signatures, which would then trigger a review by the state Supreme Court. If okayed to move forward by the court, the campaign would then have to come up with an additional 891,589 valid voter signatures to meet the next hurdle. A separate campaign committee calling itself Smart and Safe Florida, which wants to get a marijuana legalization amendment on the ballot, has already met that first signature goal.

North Carolina

North Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Advances in Senate. A year after the Senate approved a medical marijuana bill only to see it die in the House, the bill, Senate Bill 3, is back and moving again. The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. The bill now heads to two more committees, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Rules and Operations Committee before heading for a Senate floor vote. Although the House last year declined to take up the measure, the Republican House Speaker, Rep. Tim Moore, has suggested that the bill could pass with "the right restrictions." The bill would allow medical marijuana for a list of specified medical conditions and an advisory board could expand that list.