Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

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James Call has 398 articles published.

Jeff Brandes on higher levels of THC: wait until next year

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Word had been spreading through the Capitol this week the attempt to broaden Florida’s medicinal marijuana law had hit a roadblock. Monday when the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee considered a Right to Try Act, allowing terminally ill patients to use experimental drugs and procedures, no attempt was made to include marijuana in the proposal. The sponsor is Sen. Jeff Brandes, one of the Senate supporters of lifting prohibitions on the use of marijuana as medicine. He explained Tuesday that he…

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Changes to Charlotte’s Web law stalling in Senate

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The Florida Senate Wednesday is expected to consider a medicinal marijuana bill but it appears efforts to allow higher-levels of THC in cannabis medicine in Florida have stalled. “We’re in a holding pattern,” said Rob Bradley, the sponsor of a glitch bill for last year’s Charlotte’s Web law. SPB 7066 makes several changes to last year’s Compassionate Medicinal Cannabis Act of 2014. The low-THC law has been plagued with legal challenges blocking the sell of cannabis oil to treat seizures…

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Senate panel approves abortion waiting-period

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State Sen. Anitere Flores’ bill requiring women seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours after a face-to-face meeting with their doctor is on its way to the Senate floor. The Fiscal Policy Committee approved SB 724 Monday on a party-line vote. Current law allows women to decline discussing the stage of fetal development and possible side effects of an abortion, but Flores’s proposal mandates a meeting take place before performing the abortion. State Sen. Gwen Margolis tried to amend Flores’ proposal…

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#CateSineDie: Placing bets on session’s end

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It may not compare to the estimated $4 billion wagered in office betting pools during the NCAA basketball tournament, but Capitol observers have some side bets going on about the 2015 legislative session. One is when will the hanky drop. Entries for #CateSineDie are due by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Predict when lawmakers adjourn the 2015 legislative session, and win the grand prize: a pair of Gucci loafers or a donation to your favorite charity (if you are not into leather shoes).…

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Important week ahead for medical marijuana advocates

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Florida is poised to take a significant step in making medicinal cannabis available to people who need it. This week, decisions by lawmakers at the Florida Capitol and an administrative court judge could determine when and how. Frustrated by legal challenges preventing implementation of the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014, lawmakers are pursuing a legislative fix allowing doctors to treat a select group of patients with low-THC cannabis oil. Patient advocates see SPB 7066, by state Sen. Rob Bradley, as an opportunity…

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Florida jobless rate remains unchanged; Rick Scott touts job gains

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Florida’s unemployment rate remained flat in March at 5.7 percent, unchanged from February, but down .8 percent from a year ago, according to a report released Friday by the Department of Economic Opportunity. The DEO report can be found here. It indicates there are 548,000 Floridians looking for work while another 33,000 fell out of the state labor pool compared with a month ago. The U.S. unemployment rate is 5.5 percent and 21 states have lower unemployment rates than Florida,…

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Boys and Girls Clubs advocates cry foul over sexual predator remark

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In the tension-filled chambers of a Legislative Session’s final days words matter and poorly chosen ones can stress long-standing relationships. Supporters of the Boys and Girls Club of Florida on Thursday pushed back on remarks Sen. Eleanor Sobel made after Wednesday’s meeting of the Children Families and Elder Affairs Committee. The committee had unanimously approved SB 250 that mandates level 2 background checks, a nationwide criminal search of fingerprints, for groups working with children. Afterward Sobel remarked there were numerous…

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