• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana Bill Narrowly Targeting Epilepsy and Other Seizures

May 2, 2014 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Legalized at the edges. (Alexis Bellido)
Legalized at the edges. (Alexis Bellido)

Standing in front of a salad bar in the basement of the Capitol on Friday afternoon, Holley Moseley could not keep from smiling.

Moseley and her adopted daughter RayAnn had just met with Gov. Rick Scott, shortly after the Legislature gave final passage to a measure that Moseley believes can save her 11-year-old daughter’s life and that the governor promised to sign into law.

Click On:


  • Medical Pot Deal Collapses Over Dispensaries, Leaving Framework in Strict Regulators’ Hands
  • House Approves Medical Pot Measure That Would Allow Unlimited Number of Retailers
  • Three Ways Forward on Enacting Florida Voters’ Medical Marijuana Mandate
  • Local Governments Nursing Headaches Over Legalized Pot as Health Department Holds Hearing Across Florida
  • Attention Florida Patients: You May Start Buying Your Pot Treatment in 90 Days
  • Pot Amendment Goes Into Effect Amid Mass Confusion and “Dangerous Legal Area”
  • Palm Coast Council Talks As If It Wants To Be Pioneer in Medical Pot, But Post-Moratorium
  • Flagler County Approves 6-Month Moratorium on Medical Pot Dispensaries or Facilities
  • Amendment 2: Medical Marijuana Through the Eyes and Suffering of Those Who Need It Most
  • Pot Amendment’s Passage Creates a Green Rush in Nation’s 2nd Largest Marijuana Market
  • Medical Marijuana Cruises to Reality in Florida With Healthy 71% Majority
  • The Reek of Hypocrisy Behind Federal Marijuana Laws
  • Cashing In on Pot: How Business Is Getting High on Marijuana’s Potential
  • Palm Coast Council Looks to Regulate Potential Medical Pot, But in a Cloud of Misinformation
  • Pam Bondi’s Pot Problem
  • Marijuana Use Barely Up, Synthetic Drug Use Sharply Down, Along With Other Narcotics
  • Medical Marijuana Archives
  • People United for Medical Marijuana
  • Drug Policy Alliance Website

The proposal would make Florida one of a handful of states that allow a low-THC strain of marijuana that proponents say doesn’t get users high but can end or dramatically decrease potentially fatal seizures in children like RayAnn, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy that can cause hundreds of seizures a week.

“It’s just really unreal. We’re here. We did it,” Moseley said while fixing a salad for her daughter, who also has cerebral palsy.

Mosley and her husband Peyton have spent months traveling between Gulf Breeze and the Capitol, where they’ve been at the forefront of the crusade to legalize a form of marijuana, known as “Charlotte’s Web,” that is high in cannabidiol (CBD) and low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The Moseleys were assisted by at least two lobbyists, public relations pro Ryan Wiggins and Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose Senate president father, Don, also supported the proposal.

Holley Moseley, who with RayAnn watched from the public gallery when the House and Senate passed the bills, said she had faith in God that the bill would pass.

“I honestly believe that every person that had a hand in this was meant to be part of this. There’s just something bigger that has gotten us to where we are. I just get chills thinking about it,” she said.

The Senate passed the measure (SB 1030) with a 30-9 vote Friday afternoon after rejecting efforts to weaken requirements added by the House on Thursday. The House limited eligible growers to large commercial nurseries that have been in business in Florida for at least 30 years. The measure also requires five distribution centers — one each in the northwest, northeast, central, southeast and southwest parts of the state.

Under the proposal sent to Scott, growers — who will also manufacture the substance and distribute it to users — must also be registered with the Department of Agriculture for the cultivation of more than 400,000 plants and post a $5 million bond.

According to the department, 21 nurseries in Florida would meet the requirements outlined in the bill.

Sen. Rene Garcia, who argued that the measure would shut out small agricultural businesses, tried but failed to do away with the requirement that growers be nurseries and to reduce the length of time businesses had to operate in Florida from 30 to 10 years.

But Senate sponsor Rob Bradley said that, with just hours before the session was scheduled to end, it was too late to make any changes to the bill, which would have to go back to the House on the final day of the legislative session.

“We’re not looking to create a marijuana industry in the state of Florida,” Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said. “We’re on the verge of doing something good. And if we start messing around at this juncture, we very well could be done. Let’s move forward and help these families right now and not get caught up in some of these issues that, while important, are missing I think the bigger picture.”

Sen. Jeff Clemens, a Lake Worth Democrat who has for years sponsored legislation that would legalize marijuana, agreed with Bradley that lawmakers “are doing something big” but that they have “to do it right.”

“Putting a requirement in that a business has to be in Florida for 30 years before they can participate in this program is not doing it right,” Clemens said. “There’s a reason we didn’t have it on our bill — because it’s bad public policy.”

The Senate rejected the amendment on a voice vote.

Thursday night, Scott, who had wanted to restrict usage of the drug to patients in clinical trials, said he would sign the bill.

“I’m a parent and a grandparent. I want to make sure my children, my grandchildren, have the access to the health care they want,” Scott told reporters.

Some GOP lawmakers had been leery of backing the bill because they feared it would signal support for a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would allow doctors to order traditional marijuana for critically ill patients.

Republicans have gone out of their way to emphasize that, while they support Charlotte’s Web, they are strongly opposed to Amendment 2, bankrolled by Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan, who is Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist’s boss. Some Republicans fear that putting the medical marijuana proposal on the ticket will draw out younger, more liberal voters who might not otherwise go to the polls and who would be more likely to vote for a Democrat.


For Holley Moseley, however, the winners are children whose lives might be saved by the low-THC medical marijuana, which could be available by the end of the year.

“I just look forward to the day that she gets to start it. Hopefully we’ll be coming back next year to brag and show her off,” she said.

But Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, the organization pushing the medical marijuana amendment, said the proposal headed to Scott won’t help thousands of other suffering Floridians.

“The only complete and permanent solution for all those Floridians who need cannabis to relieve their symptoms from a wide range of debilitating conditions will be the approval of Amendment 2 by voters in November,” Pollara said in a statement.

Under the measure approved Friday, cancer patients as well as those who suffer from severe muscle spasms or seizures and who do not respond to other treatments would be eligible to be put on a “compassionate use” registry maintained by the Department of Health. Doctors, who would have to receive special training, would also have to submit patients’ treatment plans to the University of Florida pharmacy school. Patients could be charged with misdemeanors for faking a disease and doctors could be charged with misdemeanors for ordering the drug for patients who don’t fit the criteria.

–Dara Kam, News Service of Florida

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anita says

    May 2, 2014 at 6:39 pm

    ” Some Republicans fear that putting the medical marijuana proposal on the ticket will draw out younger, more liberal voters who might not otherwise go to the polls and who would be more likely to vote for a Democrat.”

    Do you people EVER think about anything other than your damned political party?

  2. A.S.F. says

    May 2, 2014 at 8:29 pm

    “I’m a parent and grandparent. I want to make sure my children, my grandchildren, have the access to the health care they want,” Scott told reporters….What an extraordinary comment for Governor Scott to make, on the record, to reporters. After all, Governor Scott has done everything in his power to keep Medicaid Expansion out of Florida., which would help provide affordable healthcare to thousands in Florida, including OTHER people’s children and grandchildren.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Ed P on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 9, 2025
  • Mital Saraiya on Metronet Contractor Punctures Flagler Beach Water Main for 2nd Time in 24 Hours, Again Affecting City’s Water
  • Pogo on Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
  • Keep Flagler Beautiful on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • Fun outdoors on Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
  • Believer on Flagler Beach Will Consider Selling Ocean Palm Golf Club to Leaseholder, With Conditional Milestones
  • John on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • billcampionmemo@yahoo.com on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 9, 2025
  • BillC on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 9, 2025
  • Robert Moore on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • Pogo on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • Pogo on Tariffs, Trade Wars and the Great Depression’s Lessons
  • Pogo on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 9, 2025
  • Shanti on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • Jane Gentile-Youd on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • People suck on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents

Log in