In service to our community, we like to keep you apprised of
new and updated Florida laws as they come to be. While you likely will not be
affected by all of these, it is likely that
you know people who will be. Please share our blog with friends and loved ones so
they are in the know too.
·
The
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Safety Act – You may have seen a lot of news
and social media posts introducing school resource officers at each local
school at the beginning of the school year. That was due, in part, to the
passing of The Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Safety
Act. As per the act, each school is required to have a School Resource Officer,
school Safety Officer, or School Guardian. Several issues were addressed in the
bill such as mental health access. The above link will take you to an article
with a brief outline of the entire act if you’d like to learn more.
·
Underage
Marriage – People under the age of 18 can not get married in the State of
Florida. There is an exception which allows 17-year olds to marry with parental
signature as long as said spouse is no more than 2 years older.
·
The
HOPE Scholarship – There’s new relief offered to students who experience
bullying in public school. “A student enrolled in a Florida public school in
kindergarten through grade 12 who has been subjected to an incident of battery;
harassment; hazing; bullying; kidnapping; physical attack; robbery; sexual
offenses, harassment, assault, or battery; threat or intimidation; or fighting
at school the opportunity to transfer to another public school with capacity or
enroll in an approved private school under the Hope Scholarship.” For more
information, follow the above link.
·
Florida’s
New Law Changes Physician Responsibilities for Opioid Dispensing – A new
law has come into effect to help combat excessive opioid abuse. While the
effort to curb addiction and death is worthy and needed, it is important for
everyone who uses prescribed controlled substances to be aware of the changes
due to the law. Your pharmacist may need to dispense your medication on a
different time table than you are used to. We suggest you speak with your
doctor to find out how this change will affect you personally so that you may
best plan.
·
Insurance
or Cash for Prescriptions? - As of
July 1, 2018, a new law enables pharmacists to tell you whether your
prescription will cost less if you pay by cash rather than going through your
health insurance.
Hopefully, these laws will help improve the safety and well-being
of our children and perhaps even save us a bit of cash. To learn more about the
laws or the services provided by The Law Office of Pamela J. Helton, please
call us at 352-243-9991 and we will be happy to assist you.
