A House panel Tuesday will take up a controversial bill that would make changes in Florida’s medical-marijuana laws, including limiting the amount of euphoria-inducing THC in marijuana products.The House Professions & Public Health Subcommittee is scheduled to consider the proposal (HB 1455), filed by Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers. A similar bill (SB 1958) was filed this week in the Senate by Estero Republican Ray Rodrigues.
The Senate has blocked similar proposals during the past two years, but Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, has said he thinks many senators could support the proposal this year. In part, Roach’s bill would place a 10 percent THC cap on smokable marijuana.
THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive component of marijuana that makes users feel high. Medical-marijuana advocates and industry officials are fighting the proposals, arguing caps would force patients to spend more money to achieve the same effects from their medical treatment.
Supporters of caps contend that high-potency marijuana has negative mental-health effects, especially on the developing brain.
