Florida Employment Law Update — March 2019

Smoking Marijuana for Medical Use Permitted

On March 18, 2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation (S.B. 182) that redefines medical use of marijuana to include possession, use, or administration of marijuana in the form of smoking. However, the law does not:

• Permit smoking marijuana in an enclosed indoor workplace.
• Impair the ability of any party to restrict or limit smoking or vaping marijuana on their private property.
• Prohibit the medical use of marijuana, or prohibit a caregiver assisting with the medical use of marijuana, in a licensed nursing home facility, a licensed hospice facility, or a licensed assisted living facility, if the medical use of marijuana is not prohibited in the facility’s policies.

The governor also filed a joint motion to dismiss People United for Medical Marijuana v. Department of Health and to vacate the lower court decision, which had held the prior law to be unconstitutional.

The law became effective March 18, 2019.

Read FL S.B. 182, the motion to dismiss, and the governor’s press release