George Vanderlip, a veteran with a traumatic brain injury, is in the full-time care of his parents.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the state of Florida relieved the Vanderlips of the 280-mile round-trip journeys from their home in Deland to Apollo Beach, where the family’s preferred cannabis physician practices.
But DeSantis’ emergency order is set to expire June 26, apparently taking with it a doctor’s ability to continue to recommend medical cannabis to patients virtually.
Under DeSantis’ executive order, patients still had to see a doctor in person initially in order to be certified.
During the week of March 20, 2020 — when DeSantis first signed his major emergency order — the state was home to some 327,000 cannabis patients.
Beasley said increased anxiety and general mental health distress could have led more people to seek marijuana treatment.
State records show that Florida added more than 100 dispensaries during the pandemic.
Jacalyn Vanderlip said after years of trial and error, George has finally found in cannabis a treatment that helps him relax his tense muscles.
Michelle Beasley, a cannabis physician who practices in the Pensacola area, said she worries the expiration of the COVID-19 order could be a safety issue.
Once the executive order expires, state rules on prescribing controlled substances will revert back to what’s written in state law.
A pair of bills that, had they become law, would have allowed doctors to prescribe more controlled substances via telehealth gained significant headway during the 2021 legislative session.
Ron Watson, the president of Watson Strategies, who has lobbied the Legislature on numerous medical cannabis issues, tried to convince lawmakers this past session to codify the pandemic rules around medical cannabis into law.
Puffing on an asthma inhaler cuts three days off the length of time people are taking to recover from a bout of Covid, boosting hopes that lockdown restrictions will end for good on July 19.
It comes as pressure grows on councils to disassociate themselves from the technology company, which stands accused of helping to build the Chinese government’s surveillance state.
Pacific Theatres Exhibition Corporation, which includes Arclight Cinemas, is really not set to reopen anytime soon.