Remember when 72 percent of Floridians voted to usher in a new era of open access to medical marijuana? That triumphant moment for medical weed was just in November, but for Florida patients this morning, it feels like a lifetime ago. 

The public is invited to attend the Southeast Cannabis Conference & Expo, held at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale / Broward County Convention Center from June 9-11.

The first annual Conference on Medical Marijuana will bring together leaders in the field of medical marijuana policy, industry and application for a comprehensive overview of this rapidly expanding area of economics, research and development. Just announced, Montel Williams will discuss his personal journey with cannabis during his keynote address.

This conference is a gathering of entrepreneurs, patients, job seekers, advocates, scientists, doctors, others working in field and just curious citizens who just want to know more as Florida races toward a more advanced marijuana policy.

With just one day left to pass a bill, House and Senate Republican leaders are still struggling to strike a deal on the rollout of a voter-approved constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for patients with debilitating conditions.

The leaders have reached agreement on a variety of issues — including the number of medical marijuana operators in the state — but remain divided on a major sticking point: how many dispensaries each marijuana treatment center would be allowed to run.

“If this doesn’t work out, this will be the reason,” Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who is shepherding the measure, said before the Senate’s 31-7 vote Thursday evening in favor of the Senate version of the proposal (HB 1397).

Disney Bans Medical Marijuana in Walt Disney World

Medical marijuana is legal in Florida, but you can’t bring it with you into Walt Disney World.

Disney has recently made a change to its policies on the official Walt Disney World website that just says no to drugs.

According to WESH-TV, a Disney spokesperson sought to clarify the rule regarding the drug’s use…

Medical marijuana might be legal in Florida, but there are places where it is against the rules.

Disney World has updated its website to specifically list “marijuana” as a prohibited item.

“Although some states have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, marijuana remains illegal under federal law,” a Disney spokesperson told WESH 2 News. “We are revising our rules to clarify that marijuana is not permitted on our property.”

Attorney Matt Morgan, who fought to pass Amendment 2, is not surprised by the decision and said he understands the reasoning behind the policy.

“But to the extent that they’d go through someone’s personal belongings to search for that, I think that’s when the public might start having an issue with it,” Morgan said.

As one of the doctors in Florida that can recommend medical marijuana, Dr. Jonathan Adelberg urges caution to his patients. “I want people to operate - whether it's the speed limit or medicinal marijuana - inside the law.”

However, Dr. Adelberg says legalization hasn't been a smooth trip.

“The law is so fluid regarding medicinal marijuana, it's hard to navigate those waters,” he says.

And the doctor fears that turbulence may continue

Separate medical marijuana bills are currently moving through the Florida House and Senate after voters approved Amendment 2 in November

Lawmakers are far apart on agreeing what the law will allow, however.

Matt Gaetz, a conservative freshman congressman from Florida's Panhandle, deserves credit for going where few Republicans dare.

Gaetz has filed legislation to reschedule cannabis — the scientific and more respectable name for marijuana — from Schedule 1 status, a category reserved for drugs like heroin and LSD that have no accepted medical value.

Instead, he proposes that cannabis be given Schedule III status under the Controlled Substances Act, a category that includes anabolic steroids and certain depressants — drugs with medicinal benefits that can also be abused.

Lakeland city staff has carved out about 1,000 acres of highway commercial and light industrial zoned areas that medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to move into if ultimately approved by the City Commission.

Four of the seven city commissioners supported the staff's proposal in a meeting Friday, while others want to see some changes before it goes to the Planning and Zoning Board in May and the commission for a vote in June. 

Staff is proposing medical marijuana dispensaries:

• Be located within C-2 and I-1 zoned districts with 500-foot separation from schools, daycare centers, park and recreation centers, playgrounds, libraries, churches, synagogues and other houses of worship.

• Be limited in size to 4,000 square feet.

A foreign investor is expressing concern that Jamaica’s delay in establishing a medical ganja industry is providing other countries with the advantage to maximise from the opportunities to cement themselves in the export trade.

Florida-based investor Mark Santiago, who has applied to the Cannabis Licensing Authority for a licence to operate a vertically integrated ganja business, feels that the disunity in communication is a major hold-up in the industry.

“I believe that the foot dragging is because of our lack of communication,” Santiago argued.

He was speaking to the Jamaica Observer at the MoBay Invest Conference put on by the Montego Bay Chamber of Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Friday.

Bipartisan legislation proposed in the House on Thursday would make marijuana a Schedule 3 drug, removing cannabis from its current standing as a Schedule 1 substance alongside deadly contraband including ecstasy and heroin.

By reclassifying weed in the same category as anabolic steroids, Congress would “make it easier for ill-patients and scientific and medical researchers to obtain marijuana,” the bill’s authors said in a statement Thursday.