House District 18

Candidate Keith Matthews

5.0

Florida Democratic Party


2024 Questionnaire

Score 5.00

Will you pledge to protect patient access to Medical Marijuana if Amendment 3 passes?

FLCAN supports safe, affordable, and accessible Cannabis for patients. The Constitution was amended in 2016 by popular vote to allow qualified patients access to medical Cannabis. This program must be reauthorized should Amendment 3 - adult non-medical use pass in November.

Many states consider the ability for patients to cultivate at home a key to access and affordability. Will you support legislation designed to expand access by allowing home cultivation?

Yes

Regulating Cannabis Businesses

The Department of Agriculture is already licensing businesses to grow, process, and sell low-THC Cannabis products. The Department of Health licenses businesses to grow, process, and sell Cannabis products to qualified patients. After the passage of Amendment 3 in November, we will have non-medical adult use.

Do you know someone who benefits from the existing hemp businesses operating in Florida?

No

Should businesses currently licensed to cultivate, process/manufacture, or sell Cannabis products be allowed to expand into the adult social market?

Yes

Since November 2019, polls have shown 2/3 of Americans believed Marijuana (Cannabis) use should be legal.

Do you intend to introduce a Cannabis-related bill if elected?

Yes

Would you accept donations or volunteers from FLCAN supporters?

Yes

Is there anything you want our members and supporters to know?

I am a registered nurse who believes that our policies about cannabis should be based on science. Patients should have access, and we need to expand the conditions list so that we help people with chronic pain, thus decreasing opiate use in the state. We should also add anxiety, insomnia, and other conditions that respond well to cannabis but that are susceptible to medical side effects when treated with common over-the-counter and prescription medications. Working together, healthcare professionals and dispensaries can lead people who are using the medical marijuana card as well as those seeking adult use to find the proper and beneficial types and doses. Another aspect of the medical marijuana program that must change is the $75 fee to the state for patients to get their necessary medical care. This is an unreasonable charge to people – it’s asking people to pay the government so they can get healthcare. The state does not charge people so that they can get an opiate or a benzodiazepine prescription so they shouldn’t be charging for a prescription for a cannabis product. I am looking forward to bringing a professional nursing and science background to the legislature so that I can introduce legislation and support my colleagues in understanding the science in our public policy going forward.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being not interested, do you consider yourself pro-Cannabis?

10