Florida Senators Approve Bill To Increase Medical Marijuana Supply Limits And Slash Patient Fees For Veterans

Florida senators have approved an amended bill to increase the amount of
medical marijuana a registered patient can buy and slash the fee for
medical cannabis identification cards for military veterans.

At a hearing before the Senate Health Policy Committee on Wednesday,
members advanced the legislation from Sen. Alexis Calatayud (R) in a vote
of 10-1 after adopting a substitute version.

Under the proposal as amended, a doctor would be able to recommend up to
five 70-day supply limits of cannabis or up to 10 35-day supply limits of
smokable marijuana products. Under current law, they can only provide
recommendations for a maximum of three 70-day supply limits for
non-smokable cannabis and six 35-day supply limits for smokable marijuana.

The bill, SB 1032, would further make it so doctors would need to evaluate
patients for medical marijuana qualification every 52 weeks, rather than
the current statutory requirement of evaluations every 30 weeks.

A similar version of medical cannabis legislation was introduced in the
House by Rep. Bill Partington (R) in late December.

Calatayud’s proposal as amended in committee would additionally reduce the
fee for medical cannabis identification cards for honorably discharged
veterans to $15—down from the current $75 fee for most qualifying patients.

Two House panels have advanced separate standalone legislation from Reps.
Susan Valdés (R) and Michelle Salzman (R) that would similarly reduce
veterans’ medical marijuana card fee to $15.

If enacted into law, the broader Senate bill would take effect on July 1,
2026.

Wednesday’s committee vote comes after the Senate Regulated Industries
Committee passed separate legislation to ban smoking or vaping marijuana in
public places. Rep. Alex Andrade (R) is sponsoring a similar bill to ban
public cannabis smoking in the House.

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*Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
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charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.*


*Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on
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*Here’s an overview of other pending Florida marijuana bills:*

- A House lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to legalize recreational
marijuana that also aims to break up what he calls “monopolies” in the
state’s current medical cannabis program by revising the business licensing
structure.
- Another representative’s bill would protect the parental rights of
medical cannabis patients, preventing them from losing custody of their
children for using their medicine in accordance with state law.
- A senator is sponsoring a bill to legalize home cultivation of
marijuana for registered medical cannabis patients in the state.

Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court last week cancelled oral arguments and
closed a case concerning a marijuana legalization ballot initiative that
was under review at the request of the state attorney general.

Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) notified the court on Monday that he
was withdrawing his request for a legal review into the cannabis measure
because election officials determined the campaign behind it had fallen
short of the signature requirements for ballot placement. But while the
campaign urged the court to reject the notice of dismissal, contesting the
signature count, justices on Wednesday accepted the attorney general’s
motion.

Smart & Safe Florida has disputed the secretary of state’s signature count,
claiming the campaign submitted over 1.4 million petitions—hundreds of
thousands more than the 880,062 valid signatures required to go before
voters.

In a filing with the Supreme Court, Uthmeier said his office was
withdrawing its earlier request for a legal review in the constitutionality
of the proposed cannabis initiative because the state claims the campaign
submitted an insufficient number of signed petitions. The last count,
according to the secretary of state’s office, was 783,592 validated
signatures.

*Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.*

The post Florida Senators Approve Bill To Increase Medical Marijuana Supply
Limits And Slash Patient Fees For Veterans appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.