In a blistering 22-page ruling, Judge Karen Gievers wrote that the constitutional amendment that prompted the Legislature to expand medical marijuana does not authorize the Department of Health to pass any restrictions that block access to the drug. | AP Photo | AP Photo/Gosia Wozniacka Judge rules Tampa man can grow own medical marijuana

TALLAHASSEE — A Leon County Circuit Court judge blasted the Florida Department of Health for failing to comply with state law Wednesday when she ruled in favor of a Tampa man who sued the state to grow his own medical marijuana plants, a decision with major implications for the industry and tens of thousands of patients.

In a blistering 22-page ruling, Judge Karen Gievers wrote that the constitutional amendment that prompted the Legislature to expand medical marijuana does not authorize the Department of Health to pass any restrictions that block access to the drug.


“Nothing in the amendment authorizes the Department of Health (or any other part of Florida's government) to ignore the rights of qualifying patients to access the medical marijuana treatment to which they are entitled under the Florida Constitution, or to exclude any method by which qualifying patients may take their medicine,” Gievers wrote.

Gievers' ruling paves the way for any of the 95,000 authorized medical marijuana users in the state to possess plants if they receive orders from a qualified physician. But the state has already asked her to hold off until it can appeal the ruling.

Tallahassee lawyer Jason Gonzalez, who represents the Florida Department of Health, plans to appeal Gievers’ ruling with the First District Court of Appeal.

The notice of appeal also asks Gievers to temporarily halt medical marijuana patients from possessing plants until her ruling has gone through an appellate review. Clearwater lawyer Luke Lirot said he will file a response blocking this request.

Joe Redner, a Tampa strip club owner who suffers from lung cancer, told POLITICO he would spend Wednesday purchasing the necessary equipment to grow marijuana inside his Tampa home.

"This is a miracle plant that has been wasted for over 100 f------ years," Redner said. "And it’s all because everyone has their hands in the pockets of the special interest groups, and this plant is going to take money away from their bottom line."

Redner and Lirot filed the suit in November. The complaint claimed the constitutional amendment expanding medical marijuana, which was approved by 71 percent of voters in November 2016, placed no restrictions on how he could possess the drug.

The suit went to a non-jury trial March 21. Lirot told the judge Redner planned to grow up to 40 plants inside a locked, windowless room inside his Tampa home. Gonzalez countered that Lirot’s claim borrowed the definition of marijuana used by state criminal law and that it could not be applied to law governing medical use.

Gonzalez argued that the Department of Health is not outfitted with the regulatory framework to govern home-grown marijuana. The state-licensed medical marijuana cultivators are subject to policy requiring specific security standards that would not be applicable for home use.

In response, Redner told POLITICO his grow room will be secure.

"It will be much safer than any of the opioids I have in the house," Redner said.

Redner had said Venice physician Barry Gordon ordered him to drink a glass of juice made with freshly ground marijuana every day to help fight cancer. Gordon had said the fresh form of the drug allows Redner to take in large quantities of the medicine without feeling the euphoric effects normally associated with recreational use.

Redner said he has already made plans to obtain seedlings from the same nursery that supplies other medical marijuana treatment centers in the state.

Two medical cannabis outfits, Quincy-based Trulieve and Tallahassee-based Surterra, have already taken steps to provide live plants as well. Trulieve is headed by Chief Executive Officer Kim Rivers, who filed its request March 26. It was followed by Surterra, which asked to join Trulieve's request Tuesday.

"Trulieve is committed to expanding patient access across Florida and [in] anticipation of this court decision, we sought state approval to provide this patient — and others like him — with the medical marijuana his doctor prescribed and stands ready to dispense it once authorized,” Rivers wrote in a statement.