Please find below a recent memo from Florida Attorney General’s office rejecting activist’s petition to reschedule marijuana for medical access. This is notable because Florida is a top five political bellwether state, with an aging population, NORML receives more requests from Florida residents than anywhere else in the country to reform local medical cannabis laws.
Unfortunately, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office has rejected a petition from the Cannabis Action Network to reschedule cannabis so that sick, dying and sense-threatened medical patients with a doctor’s recommendation can possess and use it legally. As often is the case at the state level, the Attorney General is deferring to federal laws and Congressional intent.
PAM BONDI
ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERALAdministrative Law Bureau
Edward A. Tellechea
Chief Assistant Attorney General
PL-01, The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Phone (850) 414-3300
Fax (850) 922-6425December 12, 2012
Jodi James
Director, Cannabis Action Network
Melbourne, FLMs. James:
Thank you for your petition wherein you request that the Attorney
General temporarily reschedule cannabis. I have been asked to
respond on the Attorney General’s behalf.Section 893.0355, Florida Statutes, delegates to the Attorney
General the authority to temporarily reschedule controlled
substances set forth in Section 893.03(1), Florida Statutes, by rule
and addresses what factors shall be considered when making such a
determination. The statute reads in part as follows:(3) In making the public interest determination, the Attorney
General shall give great weight to the scheduling rules adopted by
the United States Attorney General subsequent to such substances
being listed in Schedules I, II, III, IV, and V hereof, to achieve
the original legislative purpose of the Florida Comprehensive Drug
Abuse Prevention and Control Act of maintaining uniformity between
the laws of Florida and the laws of the United States with respect
to controlled substances.The above quoted statutory language makes it very clear that when
determining whether a controlled substance should be rescheduled the
Attorney General must give great weight to the current drug
scheduling under federal law. In addition, Florida law also strongly
encourages uniformity in Florida and federal drug scheduling.The Attorney General does not believe that it is in the best
interest of the public for her to use her authority to temporarily
reschedule cannabis, particularly given the legislative preference
for uniformity with federal drug laws and the fact that cannabis
remains a Schedule I drug under federal law.Sincerely,
Edward A. Tellechea
Chief Assistant Attorney General
Source: NORML
