Is Cannabis Education Keeping Up in Jacksonville Healthcare?
Jacksonville clinicians are seeing more patient questions about cannabis as Florida’s medical marijuana program expands and national attitudes continue to shift. But a closer look at Florida’s training rules—and what research says about provider preparedness—suggests cannabis education in Northeast Florida is improving unevenly, with clear gaps outside the small slice of physicians who formally certify patients.
In Florida, the most explicit cannabis education requirement applies to “qualified physicians” who want access to the Medical Marijuana Use Registry and the ability to issue patient certifications. State law requires those physicians to complete a 2-hour course and exam (offered through the Florida Medical Association or the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association) before approval and before each license renewal. Florida’s medical marijuana information site reiterates that this course is a prerequisite for registry access.
That baseline requirement, however, is narrow by design: it targets certifying physicians, not the broader clinical workforce. Many Jacksonville residents discuss cannabis with primary care clinicians, specialists, pharmacists, nurses, mental health providers, pain clinics, and emergency departments—settings where cannabis questions can surface even when the provider does not certify. Florida’s statute-driven model does not automatically translate into standardized cannabis education across those roles.
National evidence points to a persistent training shortfall. A 2025 commentary in JAMA Network Open described an “educational void” in cannabis counseling, citing surveys showing low confidence among trainees and limited curricular exposure. Another JAMA Network Open piece on developing medical cannabis competencies similarly notes repeated reports of low perceived knowledge among clinicians and gaps in medical school preparation. Peer-reviewed studies also document that formal training remains inconsistent across clinician groups.
Locally, Jacksonville does have credible education pathways, but they tend to be optional and fragmented. The University of Florida, which has a major health presence in Jacksonville, has hosted educational programming on medical marijuana topics (including webinars aimed at clinicians and researchers). UF’s continuing medical education infrastructure also offers cannabis-related CME activities, reflecting a growing institutional push to meet clinician demand for evidence-based updates. On the professional-association side, the Florida Medical Association promotes medical marijuana CME options for physicians seeking “factual, balanced” information.
There are also education offerings outside the traditional medical pipeline. For example, Florida State College at Jacksonville advertises a medical cannabis certificate program—useful for workforce exposure and literacy, though not a substitute for clinical training standards or specialty-specific competencies.
So, are Jacksonville healthcare providers receiving “enough” cannabis education? The evidence suggests some are, but many aren’t. Florida’s 2-hour requirement creates a compliance floor for certifying physicians, but it does not ensure robust clinical competence in dosing strategies, drug–drug interactions, mental health risk screening, impairment counseling, or harm reduction—nor does it reach large parts of the care team that patients routinely consult. National research continues to show clinicians often feel underprepared, which likely mirrors what Jacksonville providers encounter on the ground as patient interest rises.
For Jacksonville, the path forward may be less about whether education exists—and more about whether major health systems, professional boards, and training programs make cannabis education routine, role-specific, and evidence-based, rather than optional and episodic.