UPDATE - 6:19 p.m. The Florida Department of Health issued the following statement in regard to the outcome of the "Redner vs. Department of Health" non-trial decision handed down earlier on Wednesday.

"We have appealed the judge’s ruling. Her order has been stayed. We will continue to work to implement the law so Florida patients can have safe access to this medicine." 

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A local businessman now can grow his own medical marijuana in his backyard, in a ruling that could have big implications for other patients.

  • Joe Redner Sr. has stage four lung cancer
  • Judge ruled that Redner, solely, can grow medical marijuana
  • Judge also criticizes state for actions on medical marijuana issue
  • Florida voters approved medical marijuana in November 2016

Joe Redner Sr., who has stage four lung cancer, took the issue to court, and a judge ruled Wednesday in his favor.

While the ruling from Circuit Judge Karen Gievers applies only to Redner, it opens the door for others to do the same as it concerns medical marijuana. At least seven other suits have been filed.

Gievers also said in her ruling that the state continues to be non-compliant in the implementation of Amendment 2. The amendment, which passed in 2016, legalized medical marijuana in Florida.

In the case of Redner, Gievers noted that the state still has not defined what the adequate supply of medical marijuana is for a patient despite being mandated to do so.

Seventy-one percent of voters in Florida said yes to medical marijuana in November's elections, but the Florida Department of Health said no to letting patients grow their own.

For Redner, a Tampa strip club owner, the ruling means he can grow the pot he said makes chemotherapy bearable.

"This is a miracle plant, a miracle plant," he said. "It solves so many problems that we have."

Some patients say the whole flower of the plant is more effective and it's much cheaper than the oils.

"I'm lucky. I have money," Redner said. "I can afford this stuff. How about the people who need their medicine that can't get it? I'm a rich person. Don't they think about poor people?"

In reprimanding the state for not fulling implementing the will of the voters, the judge said: "The court also finds that the Florida Department of Health has been, and continues to be non-compliant with the Florida constitutional requirement."

 

"This is an emergency, an out-and-out emergency," Redner said. "People are not getting their medicine. People could be dying from this and there's no sense of urgency."

The medical marijuana industry supported Redner's lawsuit.

"There definitely is a desire for whole plant medicine," said Rebecca Allison of Surterra Wellness.

Surterra Wellness and Trulieve petitioned the court to be able to provide marijuana plants to their customers.

Redner will have to make juice from his plants because smoking medical marijuana is still against health department rules.

The Department of Health is involved in eight other court cases related to medical marijuana, ranging from licensing of treatment centers to the banning of smoking. The smoking ban will also be heard by Gievers next month.

Jeff Sharkey, who help runs the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida, said that since the amendment does not restrict whole-plant use, Wednesday's ruling further proves there should be no restrictions for how patients want to get treatment.

"If this ruling is upheld, it will dramatically change patient access,'' he said.

The state argued that if people are allowed to grow their own, then the entire medical marijuana amendment is in jeopardy, essentially saying that is not what voters agreed on. 

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.