Originally reported: 4:41 p.m., Monday, Jan. 02, 2017.
Medical marijuana will be legal in the state on Jan 3.
- Amendment 2 goes into effect Jan. 3
- Voters passed the amendment in Nov.
- Patients with medical ailments now allowed use of medical marijuana
Amendment 2 passed in November allowing for a higher strength of cannabis to be used for a wider list of medical ailments.
Renee Petro's 15-year-old son Branden has been suffering from Febrile Infection-Related Epilepsy Syndrome for eight years. He can have several seizures in a day.
"Twenty failed pharmaceutical medications that cause horrific side affects, things like aggression, rage, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, wanting to hurt himself," said Renee Petro.
However, Petro found one thing that did work for her son a few years ago — medical cannabis.
With Amendment 2 she said there's now hope for her son and she wants that for all families.
"It’s something with virtually no side affect except happiness, maybe increase your appetite, to be able to sleep at night, to stop seizures," said Petro.
The rules for Amendment 2 have yet to be established by the legislature and Department of Health that has been given a six month window to get it done and up to nine months to begin issuing ID cards.
"There's still a lot of work that needs to be done, we don't know what the implementation is going to look like. That's all a work in progress," said Petro.
Petro, like many parents, just hopes the process moves quickly and smoothly so people who are in pain won't have to wait much longer.
There are dispensaries open in Tallahassee, Clearwater, and Tampa. However, dozens of cities statewide currently have moratoriums in place either banning or restricting dispensaries.
Patients must be under the care of a licensed physician who has completed the required eight-hour course and examination for at least three months.
Currently, Florida has 340 registered physicians and about 1,500 patients in the state registry.
For a list of physicians, click here.