Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
The roads of rural Lee County form a web running around and between vast fields of oranges and grapefruit, melons and potatoes, steer and cows.
Soon the agricultural acres and fodder fields could lie next to what may be Florida's next cash crop – medical marijuana.
As the first anniversary approaches when voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana, entrepreneurs are looking for a Lee County site to provide a local source of medical cannabis.
One of the biggest growers of agricultural plants in the state is Ohio-based Aris Horticulture, formerly known as Yoder Brothers Inc., which owns about 250 acres in east Alva.
Gary Knipe, managing director of Aris Florida operations, said the company still grows millions of agricultural plants at sites that include its expanse off Palm Beach Boulevard.
Aris took a look at plunging into growing marijuana plants for medicinal purposes. But its interest in growing medical pot is on hold, partly because of legal battles being fought in Tallahassee and in the courts over how, and whether, to implement the will of the voters.
But the law implementing medical marijuana requires a cannabis dispensary licensee to control the product from planting the seeds to filling the prescriptions.
"In Florida, medical marijuana businesses are vertically integrated meaning they cultivate, process and dispense," said Mara Gambineri, communications director for the state Department of Health.
Growers could pair up with people with a background in running a storefront business to create the vertical integration that could be beyond the expertise of either.
"We want to grow and dispense," said Steven Brown-Casterno, a Fort Myers entrepreneur who is seeking a license for a marijuana dispensary in Lee County. "If we don't get a grow license, we want to partner with whoever is willing to partner with us."
Brown-Casterno's Simino Health Centers will apply for a license by itself or with an agricultural partner. He sees local growing as a way to cut costs over the practice of shipping the product from other markets.
"I want to grow in Lee County because I keep 25-30 jobs in Lee County," Brown-Casterno said. "I don't think there is enough interest (among producers) to grow in Lee or Collier County, most of the growers are central or in the Tallahassee region."
It was a year ago Wednesday that Florida voters endorsed the constitutional amendment that changed the state's attitude toward cannabis.
A form of marijuana called low-THC, limited to 0.8 percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, has been available with a written prescription from a limited number of distributors for a few years.
Broader use of medical marijuana was approved by voters through an amendment to the state Constitution supported by a 71 percent majority statewide, 70 percent in Lee County.
Legislators failed to pass a law implementing the amendment during the legislative session last spring, but a measure passed during a special session with the major argument in favor of it being better than nothing.
Gov. Rick Scott signed it, and the new law was promptly challenged in court. Pending lawsuits claim lawmakers' decision to ban smoking the newly recognized medicine alters the will of the voters in amending the Constitution.
That court fight has held up expansion of the industry. The state Department of Health has licensed 21 medical marijuana dispensaries in 16 Florida communities. An even dozen of the dispensaries are controlled by Trulieve Management LLC, which registered as a Florida corporation last June.
The Trulieve roster of companies released by the state includes one in a North Fort Myers strip mall on U.S. 41.
One company with a grow-and-dispense marijuana sales license has been urging the state to move faster on approving an edible form.
Brown-Casterno and Knipe made the rounds at the Old Lee County Courthouse in downtown Fort Myers in late summer. One or both spoke to four of the five commissioners.
"It was just a courtesy, letting us know so we would not be blindsided or caught off guard not knowing the law," said Commissioner Frank Mann. "The county does not have the authority to deny allowing the medical marijuana."
Local municipalities do have some authority to regulate how many dispensaries open and where they are located.
Aris executive Knipe says his company's interest is on hold while the legal controversies are settled. He said he met with commissioners as part of the firm's interest in expanding its basic business of growing plants.
"We're quietly growing millions of plants a year," Knipe said. "We were looking at our options and seeing what the county's position was."
Knipe has bigger problems right now. The nearly mile-long stretch of Palm Beach Boulevard fronting the company's vast grow fields still bear evidence of the destructive power of Hurricane Irma.
Greenhouses and canvas tents for young plants remain in ruins as crews work to gradually bring the mammoth agricultural enterprise back to its capacity.
"It's a challenge, we had significant damage to our facilities, we have contractors and vendors and insurance adjusters and we're getting back together," Knipe said. "It'll be a challenge, but we're expecting to meet our sales projections."
The east Alva property is also home to Syngenta Flowers, which acquired many of Yoder's proprietary flower varieties when Yoder Brothers reorganized and changed its name to Aris in 2009.
The future of legally grown marijuana is firmly in the hands of the state. Aris sees the state's indecision as a reason to back away, at least now.
At the other end of the chain of production, Brown-Casterno said he sees the state being led by the public's more accepting attitude toward marijuana, as reflected in the landslide win for medical cannabis in the 2016 election – and he's ready to move on it, seeing the days of legal – or at least tolerated –recreational marijuana on the horizon
"In three to five years it will all be smokable, but they'll still have to go through a dispensary," he said. "We will get the guy or lady with disposable income who does not want to be seen buying a baggie on the street."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana growing may come to Lee County to meet medical demand
Author: BILL SMITH
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Kyle Nelson
Website: The News-Press: Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs news| news-press.com
Soon the agricultural acres and fodder fields could lie next to what may be Florida's next cash crop – medical marijuana.
As the first anniversary approaches when voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana, entrepreneurs are looking for a Lee County site to provide a local source of medical cannabis.
One of the biggest growers of agricultural plants in the state is Ohio-based Aris Horticulture, formerly known as Yoder Brothers Inc., which owns about 250 acres in east Alva.
Gary Knipe, managing director of Aris Florida operations, said the company still grows millions of agricultural plants at sites that include its expanse off Palm Beach Boulevard.
Aris took a look at plunging into growing marijuana plants for medicinal purposes. But its interest in growing medical pot is on hold, partly because of legal battles being fought in Tallahassee and in the courts over how, and whether, to implement the will of the voters.
But the law implementing medical marijuana requires a cannabis dispensary licensee to control the product from planting the seeds to filling the prescriptions.
"In Florida, medical marijuana businesses are vertically integrated meaning they cultivate, process and dispense," said Mara Gambineri, communications director for the state Department of Health.
Growers could pair up with people with a background in running a storefront business to create the vertical integration that could be beyond the expertise of either.
"We want to grow and dispense," said Steven Brown-Casterno, a Fort Myers entrepreneur who is seeking a license for a marijuana dispensary in Lee County. "If we don't get a grow license, we want to partner with whoever is willing to partner with us."
Brown-Casterno's Simino Health Centers will apply for a license by itself or with an agricultural partner. He sees local growing as a way to cut costs over the practice of shipping the product from other markets.
"I want to grow in Lee County because I keep 25-30 jobs in Lee County," Brown-Casterno said. "I don't think there is enough interest (among producers) to grow in Lee or Collier County, most of the growers are central or in the Tallahassee region."
It was a year ago Wednesday that Florida voters endorsed the constitutional amendment that changed the state's attitude toward cannabis.
A form of marijuana called low-THC, limited to 0.8 percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, has been available with a written prescription from a limited number of distributors for a few years.
Broader use of medical marijuana was approved by voters through an amendment to the state Constitution supported by a 71 percent majority statewide, 70 percent in Lee County.
Legislators failed to pass a law implementing the amendment during the legislative session last spring, but a measure passed during a special session with the major argument in favor of it being better than nothing.
Gov. Rick Scott signed it, and the new law was promptly challenged in court. Pending lawsuits claim lawmakers' decision to ban smoking the newly recognized medicine alters the will of the voters in amending the Constitution.
That court fight has held up expansion of the industry. The state Department of Health has licensed 21 medical marijuana dispensaries in 16 Florida communities. An even dozen of the dispensaries are controlled by Trulieve Management LLC, which registered as a Florida corporation last June.
The Trulieve roster of companies released by the state includes one in a North Fort Myers strip mall on U.S. 41.
One company with a grow-and-dispense marijuana sales license has been urging the state to move faster on approving an edible form.
Brown-Casterno and Knipe made the rounds at the Old Lee County Courthouse in downtown Fort Myers in late summer. One or both spoke to four of the five commissioners.
"It was just a courtesy, letting us know so we would not be blindsided or caught off guard not knowing the law," said Commissioner Frank Mann. "The county does not have the authority to deny allowing the medical marijuana."
Local municipalities do have some authority to regulate how many dispensaries open and where they are located.
Aris executive Knipe says his company's interest is on hold while the legal controversies are settled. He said he met with commissioners as part of the firm's interest in expanding its basic business of growing plants.
"We're quietly growing millions of plants a year," Knipe said. "We were looking at our options and seeing what the county's position was."
Knipe has bigger problems right now. The nearly mile-long stretch of Palm Beach Boulevard fronting the company's vast grow fields still bear evidence of the destructive power of Hurricane Irma.
Greenhouses and canvas tents for young plants remain in ruins as crews work to gradually bring the mammoth agricultural enterprise back to its capacity.
"It's a challenge, we had significant damage to our facilities, we have contractors and vendors and insurance adjusters and we're getting back together," Knipe said. "It'll be a challenge, but we're expecting to meet our sales projections."
The east Alva property is also home to Syngenta Flowers, which acquired many of Yoder's proprietary flower varieties when Yoder Brothers reorganized and changed its name to Aris in 2009.
The future of legally grown marijuana is firmly in the hands of the state. Aris sees the state's indecision as a reason to back away, at least now.
At the other end of the chain of production, Brown-Casterno said he sees the state being led by the public's more accepting attitude toward marijuana, as reflected in the landslide win for medical cannabis in the 2016 election – and he's ready to move on it, seeing the days of legal – or at least tolerated –recreational marijuana on the horizon
"In three to five years it will all be smokable, but they'll still have to go through a dispensary," he said. "We will get the guy or lady with disposable income who does not want to be seen buying a baggie on the street."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana growing may come to Lee County to meet medical demand
Author: BILL SMITH
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Kyle Nelson
Website: The News-Press: Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs news| news-press.com
