Yet history was made in the Florida Senate yesterday, when legislators for the first time passed a bill to legalize medical pot. The bill, which would make it legal to obtain low-THC marijuana from a doctor to treat epilepsy in children, flew through the Senate with a 36-3 vote.
The so-called Charlotte’s Web bill was sponsored by three Republicans and bolstered by emotional testimony from parents such as Helen and Peyton Mosley.
The Gulf Breeze couple became the most visible pair in favor of the bill, which they say would drastically improve life for their 11-year-old daughter, RayAnn, who suffers from epileptic seizures.
If the bill is signed into law, patients such as RayAnn would be able to get marijuana with 0.8 percent or less THC (normal weed has around 15 percent of the chemical) with a doctor’s prescription.
“RayAnn made a huge impact on me when they came to my office,” Republican Rep. Greg Evers of Pensacola tells the AP. “If it was my child, I wouldn’t have any problem getting them help, whether it was legal or whether it wasn’t.”