Local doctor thinks sweeping changes of marijuana laws could be right around the corner

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – President Joe Biden pardoned Americans convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law. He also called for state-level action to provide additional relief for people with low-level marijuana convictions. While Georgians and Floridians wait to see how their state’s respond to President Biden’s call to action, a local doctor thinks sweeping changes of marijuana laws, could be right around the corner.

″We are likely to have legal recreational marijuana on this ballot in 2024,” Dr. John Crump who works with ReLeafe Now clinic said. “I think it’ll be there, if it’s not, then it’ll be the next time.”

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Crump also said he thinks marijuana will be legalized federally sometime within the next ten years. He says opinions on weed have shifted over the past decade in a positive way, but says more research still needs to be done.

″The federal laws are what determine insurance involvement,” Crump said. “That’s what determines research involvement and marijuana has to be researched and it can’t be researched when it’s federally illegal. So, I think that the fact that medical marijuana is legal in the state of Florida is hugely important.”

Crump said one of the factors that may be contribute to Florida legalizing marijuana sooner than later is the large elderly population who come to Sunshine State to retire. He says seniors, and adults of all ages are seeing the benefits of medical marijuana, but he also warns of the popular drug’s inherent danger.

“I think that the danger with marijuana is learning the art of not taking too much,” Crump said. “And there’s no doubt in my mind that marijuana dumbs you down. So the whole trick is to find that balance once, and that takes training that takes advice that takes involvement by the patient.”

Florida’s largest medical marijuana company recently launched a push to put marijuana legalization measures on the 2024 ballot. In the state of Georgia, marijuana remains illegal, but some cities like Atlanta and Savannah have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana.