Florida ban on smoking marijuana is unconstitutional, judge rules

Florida’s medical marijuana patients might soon be able to treat their conditions by smoking cannabis.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers ruled on Friday that the state’s ban on smoking medical marijuana is unconstitutional, the Miami Herald reports.

She contended that the 2016 law approved by voters included “all types of medical marijuana.” The amendment’s only mention of limiting smoking was that the Legislature and local governments could restrict use in public places.

“Just as no person is above the law, the legislature must heed the constitutional rights Floridians placed in the Constitution in 2016,” Gievers wrote. “The conflicting, overreaching 2017 statute, while presumably adopted in good faith and with good intentions, cannot be allowed to overrule the authority of the people to protect rights in the Constitution.”

Orlando lawyer and medical marijuana advocate John Morgan filed a lawsuit to challenge the ban two weeks after Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law. He was joined by ALS patient Cathy Jordan and HIV patient Diana Dodson, both of…