Hello, this is Dr. Rene Pulido, MD owner and founder of Emed Multispecialty Group and Affordable Marijuana License. Recently, I have become increasingly concerned with the rising number of marijuana arrests in Florida.

Furthermore, I am even more concerned with the fact that these arrests disproportionately affect minority communities. After a significant amount of time and research, I believe many of these individuals are using marijuana to self-medicate their legitimate medical conditions.

Marijuana Possession in Florida

In the state of Florida if you are caught with 20 grams of marijuana or less it is considered a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $10,000 fine. More than 20 grams is a Felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. What is even more ridiculous, possession of paraphernalia alone is a first-degree misdemeanor that can also have jail and fines associated with it.

More than 70% of Floridians support the legalization of Marijuana and despite the overwhelming approval of marijuana for medical use by Floridians, marijuana possession arrests have soared in Florida in recent years. The ACLU continues to report year over year increases in misdemeanor marijuana arrests. To make matters worse, these arrests disproportionately affect our black and brown communities. In 2017, the ACLU reported half of all those with misdemeanor marijuana charges in Florida where black despite only making up 17% of the population and despite using marijuana in equal proportions to other races.

Our Solution

For this reason, I am creating a program for individuals who have been using marijuana in the past because they believe it improves their well-being. This program is an invitation for those individuals who have searched the mainstream medical community for answers to their questions and have received very little in return, to step out of the shadows and have their medical conditions documented and treated appropriately.

This medical marijuana program includes scheduling, evaluation of your medical case by a Mayo Clinic trained family medicine physician with over 10 years’ experience, and if it is appropriate, the recommendation to use marijuana for medical purposes. Through this process you will receive your state of Florida medical marijuana card. I will also include a letter outlining your medical history and an explanation of my recommendation that can be used in court proceedings.

Through this program, we have already helped a multitude of people have their marijuana possession charges reduced or dropped. I hope that through working with patients and hard-working attorneys we can change this disparity disproportionately affecting minority groups.