TALLAHASSEE — Tampa strip-club owner Joe Redner doesn’t have the legal right to grow his own medical marijuana to combat lung cancer, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal overturned a ruling by Leon Circuit Judge Karen Gievers, who last year gave Redner the go-ahead to grow marijuana for juicing purposes.
Redner’s lawsuit rested on a voter-approved constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida in 2016.
Redner’s lawyers argued that, because he is a qualified patient, the constitutional amendment gave him the right to possess and use the whole growing plant and process his own marijuana.
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</aside>Redner’s doctor ordered a juicing treatment that uses live marijuana plants to prevent a relapse of his stage 4 lung cancer, according to court documents. Emulsification, or juicing, of the “biomass of the marijuana plant” was determined to be “the most effective way” for Redner “to get the benefit of medical marijuana,” Gievers decided.
But a three-judge panel of the appellate court found that Redner’s interpretation of the amendment “is not supported by the plain language of the Constitution and renders portions of the Constitution meaningless.”
The amendment allows qualified patients to “acquire, possess, use, deliver, transfer, and administer marijuana in amounts that do not conflict” with Florida Department of Health rules, Judges T. Kent Wetherell and Scott Makar and Associate Judge Monica Brasington wrote in Wednesday’s eight-page order.
“The term ‘use’ is not defined by the amendment. However, it is clear, when one examines the entire amendment, that ‘use’ does not mean ‘grow’ or ‘process,’ as Mr. Redner argues,” the ruling said.
<aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod" data-load-type="method" data-load-method="trb.vendor.nativo.init" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100&topOffset=1500" data-v-ntidm="1069739"></aside>The amendment also gives state health officials the duty to regulate medical marijuana operators’ cultivation practices, the judges noted.
“Without the ability to regulate the cultivation practices of qualified patients, the department would not be able to ensure that qualified patients are safely using marijuana,” the decision said.
Luke Lirot, an attorney for Redner, said the appellate court “parsed through [the language of the amendment] to come up with a way that would deny Mr. Redner and others that are similarly situated this important constitutional right.”
Health officials were “obligated” to allow Redner and others to grow their own medical marijuana “since the Constitution said you can possess a growing plant,” Lirot said.
Lirot said he hoped to have a more successful outcome by appealing to the Florida Supreme Court.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/p...-marijuana-court-decision-20190403-story.html
The decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal overturned a ruling by Leon Circuit Judge Karen Gievers, who last year gave Redner the go-ahead to grow marijuana for juicing purposes.
Redner’s lawsuit rested on a voter-approved constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida in 2016.
Redner’s lawyers argued that, because he is a qualified patient, the constitutional amendment gave him the right to possess and use the whole growing plant and process his own marijuana.
<aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod" data-load-type="method" data-load-method="trb.vendor.nativo.init" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100" data-adloader-networktype="nativo" data-v-ntidd="1069721">
</aside>Redner’s doctor ordered a juicing treatment that uses live marijuana plants to prevent a relapse of his stage 4 lung cancer, according to court documents. Emulsification, or juicing, of the “biomass of the marijuana plant” was determined to be “the most effective way” for Redner “to get the benefit of medical marijuana,” Gievers decided.
But a three-judge panel of the appellate court found that Redner’s interpretation of the amendment “is not supported by the plain language of the Constitution and renders portions of the Constitution meaningless.”
The amendment allows qualified patients to “acquire, possess, use, deliver, transfer, and administer marijuana in amounts that do not conflict” with Florida Department of Health rules, Judges T. Kent Wetherell and Scott Makar and Associate Judge Monica Brasington wrote in Wednesday’s eight-page order.
“The term ‘use’ is not defined by the amendment. However, it is clear, when one examines the entire amendment, that ‘use’ does not mean ‘grow’ or ‘process,’ as Mr. Redner argues,” the ruling said.
<aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod" data-load-type="method" data-load-method="trb.vendor.nativo.init" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100&topOffset=1500" data-v-ntidm="1069739"></aside>The amendment also gives state health officials the duty to regulate medical marijuana operators’ cultivation practices, the judges noted.
“Without the ability to regulate the cultivation practices of qualified patients, the department would not be able to ensure that qualified patients are safely using marijuana,” the decision said.
Luke Lirot, an attorney for Redner, said the appellate court “parsed through [the language of the amendment] to come up with a way that would deny Mr. Redner and others that are similarly situated this important constitutional right.”
Health officials were “obligated” to allow Redner and others to grow their own medical marijuana “since the Constitution said you can possess a growing plant,” Lirot said.
Lirot said he hoped to have a more successful outcome by appealing to the Florida Supreme Court.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/p...-marijuana-court-decision-20190403-story.html
