Florida voters approve medical marijuana

Florida voters on Tuesday approved a medical marijuana ballot initiative that was narrowly defeated just a couple of years ago, making the state to permit use of the drug for certain medical conditions, including HIIV and cancer.

According to emerging media reports, Amendment 2 was passed with support from 71 per cent of voters. It may be noted here that constitutional amendments need 60 per cent support to win in Florida.

Medical marijuana legalization proposal was previously put on ballot in 2014, but it tumbled as it received on 58 per cent of the voters’ support, just shy of the 60 per cent threshold.

Tom Angell, of Marijuana Majority, said, With Florida’s decision, a majority of states in the U.S. now have laws allowing patients to find relief with medical marijuana, and these protections and programs are no longer concentrated in certain regions of the country like the West and Northeast.”

The measure will allow doctors to recommend medical pot for diseases like HIV, cancer and PTSD, as well as any other debilitating condition for which a doctor believes that health benefits form use of pot would outweigh the potential risks for a patient.

A study conducted by New Frontier Data & Arcview Market Research suggested that Florida’s medical marijuana industry could be worth as much as $1.6 billion by the end of 2020.