For a moment on Friday, as Florida leaders announced plans for this week’s special legislative session, it was believed medical marijuana would be added to the list of contentious issues on tap for resolution.
After all, if cooler heads could compromise on the year’s biggest fight — money for economic development under Enterprise Florida — surely they could agree on the rules that will guide the growth of Florida’s budding medical marijuana industry.
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
Rather, the Florida House and Senate remain deadlocked over how to regulate what’s expected to become the nation’s largest medical marijuana marketplace.
It shouldn’t be so difficult to implement the will of 71 percent of Florida voters, who last November approved a state constitutional amendment that legalizes the use of medical marijuana by people with debilitating conditions. The amendment says the implementing rules must be written by July 3. If lawmakers fail to do their job, the state Department of Health will take over.
