Users do not want a cap on medical marijuana THC levels

With state lawmakers debating whether to cap smokable medical marijuana at 10% THC, the plant’s primary psychoactive substance, we asked readers whether lawmakers should be looking into such new restrictions.

Initially, back in 2017, the legislature banned smoked medical marijuana entirely. But that ban was overturned by the courts, leading to the current legislative session’s look at other ways to restrict the drug. The bill that would cap THC levels is the product of a committee chaired by state Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, the very same state representative who crafted the 2017 bill that banned smokable medical marijuana in the first place. Rodrigues cites a recent study published in the British medical journal “Lancet” that shows daily use of high-THC is linked to instances of psychosis.

Our readers are not amused.

“No, absolutely not. Do they cap the content in opioids or other prescription medication? The effect would obviously be patients having to buy and smoke more to achieve the same relief. … I can’t help but wonder how these same lawmakers would react if someone in their family needed cannabis to treat their illness,” wrote Steve, who uses medical marijuana after a severe auto accident in 2015. “Cannabis works. For me, I use mostly high CBD low THC, and use higher THC content to help sleep. Had Florida not legalized medical marijuana, I would have sold my home and moved to Colorado full time.”

Comparing and contrasting to how the legislature handles prescription painkillers was a common theme.

“It’s asinine to put a limit on the strength of THC in medical cannabis,” wrote Leon Gomez. “Are legislatures allowed to limit the potency on opioids and the number of pills an individual can take anywhere in Florida?”

To be fair, the Florida Legislature did, in fact, limit prescriptions of opioids to a three-day supply in most cases of acute pain, though that’s not the same as limiting their strength.