After the passing of Amendment 2 in Florida, many local governments are trying to get out ahead of medical marijuana dispensaries and treatment facilities by enacting temporary moratoriums or zoning ordinances in order to control their location. Examples of this type of legislation were taken up by the commissions of both the City of Jacksonville Beach and Nassau County. The legislation for the City of Jacksonville Beach will declare a temporary moratorium on the operation of medical marijuana treatment centers and medical dispensing organizations for one year. The legislation in Nassau County will declare a moratorium on dispensing facilities for 180 days.
While some local government may be adopting moratoriums simply to give themselves time to draft legislation, others are clearly waiting until the state unveils its full regulatory program. The Florida Department of Health will promulgate rules by June 30, 2017, which should allow for local governments to move forward with more clarity. In areas that do enact moratoriums, interested citizens and business people should continue to participate in discussions regarding marijuana legislation because zoning ordinances are almost sure to follow. As for the City of Jacksonville Beach and Nassau County, we will continue update this blog as these ordinances move through the legislative process.
