Both the House and the Senate passed medical marijuana legislation right at the end of the special session Friday. The new bill is now in the hands of Gov. Rick Scott, who can either sign it or veto it.

Patients and doctors, however, have mixed reviews on the compromise legislation.

  • Legislation bans smoking of product
  • 10 additional treatment centers added to current 7
  • Product cannot be used in public

Rick Stephenwaltz, a medical marijuana patient, suffers from ulcers, extreme nausea, and severe pain in his shoulder.

“I can deal with it (pain) in life because I always have,” said Stephenwaltz. “But since I have been using the marijuana oil, or the cannabis oil, I haven’t had the getting up every morning and throwing up.”

Stephenwaltz receives care from Dr. Joseph Rosado, a licensed medical marijuana Florida physician.

“I am happy that my patients will no longer have to wait 90 days,” said Dr. Rosado.

But Rosado also pointed out some negatives.

“I am upset that there is no smoking," said Rosado. "I am upset that there is no flower, no whole plant."

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Other changes include the addition of 10 more Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTC), bringing the state total to 17. The Department of Health can later add 4 more on top of that for every 100,000 active patients in the medical use registry.

The legislation allows MMTCs to have up to 25 dispensaries each. It also included language that would require the companies licensed to have a diversity plan.

Local governments will be able to ban dispensaries within their borders, but if they do allow one dispensing facility, they cannot impose further limits.

And like other medication, medical marijuana is exempt from state and local sales tax.

As for using medical marijuana, patients can use edibles and vape, but they cannot smoke marijuana and they cannot use the medicine in public. It's these provisions that are likely to prompt future legal challenges.

“Why can I have an epi-pen in my pocket or in a school, because they have epi-pens in schools, give yourself and injection, but not be able to give yourself this medication?” questioned Rosado.  

Patients like Stephenwaltz, though, are happy to see the progress.

“It’s made life a lot better, it really has,” said Stephenwaltz.