Broward County delays decision on medical marijuana laws

Broward County commissioners will wait another two months before considering laws that would regulate medical marijuana dispensaries and grow operations in unincorporated neighborhoods.

Deciding it best to see first whether state lawmakers pass a bill this session implementing a recently passed medical cannabis constitutional amendment, commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to push back a decision on a proposed ordinance to May 9. By then, the legislative session will have closed, and there should be less gray around around Florida’s medicinal marijuana policies.

“I don’t want us to pass something that could end up contradicting or [be] in contravention of what the Legislature passes,” said Commissioner Steve Geller, an attorney who is registered in Tallahassee as a lobbyist for the nonprofit Organization for Safe Cannabis Regulation.

Several commissioners wanted to move quickly to create regulations, saying it was their obligation to respond to the November passage of Amendment 2 and be prepared if and when medicinal marijuana companies began seeking permits in unincorporated Broward.

The proposed ordinance, which would place extensive restrictions on the location of facilities and security measures, would have allowed marijuana businesses in only three small areas. A stand-alone facility could open where State Road 7 meets Interstate 595. And a combination of cultivating, processing and dispensing businesses could open on Sheridan Street west of Pembroke Pines, and near the Fort Lauderdale airport off Anglers Avenue near I-95.

Geller said waiting on Florida’s lawmakers to act first — a choice many South Florida municipalities are making — would give Broward guidance on a number of issues, including the types of products that can be sold to patients.

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Broward County delays decision on medical marijuana laws."