Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wants to Eliminate Dosage Restrictions for Medical Marijuana

Photo by: Tallahassee Democrat

by Therin Miller | September 21, 2022

Nikki Fried, commissioner of agriculture and consumer services for Florida, requests that the

state Department of Health (DOH) and its Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) reverse the

dosage restrictions implemented on August 29 due to an emergency regulation.

Fried criticized the rule change during a press conference as "unnecessary, its implementation

poorly noticed, and extremely detrimental that impacts thousands of patients in Florida.

Fried expressed her 'grave concerns" about the rule in a letter to Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida's

Surgeon General, the person in charge of the OMMU.

"The state is overturning the professional judgment of doctors and risking patients' health by

capping maximum purchases of 24,500 milligrams of THC over 70 days and a limit of 2.

ounces of smokable cannabis in 35 days," she wrote. Many people need to get a greater

dosage in several forms so they can experiment with different combinations and determine the

appropriate dosage to treat their specific illness in cooperation with their doctor. The

government has no business interfering with the complex decisions that patients and their

healthcare providers make.

Fried demanded that regulation be overturned and that officials "instead endeavor to improve

the program in a fashion that puts patients and equity first and that provides patients and

providers with a place at the table when decisions affecting their care are being debated."