Florida: 13 Challenges Filed Over Medical Marijuana Licenses

[Jacob Redmond]

When Florida's Office of Compassionate Care named five nurseries to grow and distribute medical marijuana in the state, many expected there would be a few challenges filed – but not the more than a dozen that had landed by Monday's deadline.

Department of Health officials said in an email that 13 administrative challenges across all five regions have been received. Lobbyists and officials who have been following the process had estimated there would be eight at the most.

"I think the Department of Health has done a great job with the process, but I think now everyone will take a step back and assess what the next step is," said Taylor Patrick Biehl, who represents the Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida. "By no means is anyone doing any finger-pointing. This was something that was expected and that both sides have prepared for."

The Office of Compassionate Care named the five nurseries on Nov. 23. In order to qualify, nurseries had to have been in business in Florida for at least 30 years and grown a minimum of 400,000 plants at the time of the application.

The five nurseries selected were Hackney Nursery Company in Quincy (Northwest), Alachua's Chestnut Hill Tree Farm (Northeast), Costa Nursery Farms of Miami (Southeast), Alpha Foliage in Homestead (Southwest) and Winter Garden's Knox Nursery (Central).

Four of the five nurseries selected – Hackney, Chestnut Hill, Costa and Knox – were represented on the rules committee.

Chestnut Hill has filed a counterclaim in case the decision to award it a license is overturned.

San Felasco Nurseries/Grandiflora in Gainesville and Homestead's Redland Nursery filed two challenges apiece. San Felasco/Grandiflora's are based on processes with the screening for a license in the Northeast region while Redland has challenges in two different regions (Southeast and Central).

The Southwest region has the greatest number of challenges with four: TropiFlora LLC (Sarasota), Perkins Nursery (LaBelle), Plants of Ruskin and Tornello Landscape/3 Boys Farm (Ruskin). Alpha Foliage, which was awarded the license in the Southwest region, filed the lone administrative challenge in the Northwest region.

Other challenges in the Central region were posted by McCrory's Sunny Hill Nursery (Eustis) and Dewar Nurseries (Apopka). Loop's Nursery and Greenhouses in Jacksonville has filed a challenge in the Northeast.

The Florida Legislature passed the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act in 2014, allowing patients to receive low-THC cannabis after obtaining permission from their physician. The cannabis is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, which induces euphoria, but high in cannabidiol (CBD). Advocates say the cannabidiol can help children with severe epilepsy and patients with advanced forms of cancer.

The process of awarding the licenses, however, has been fraught with legal challenges. Health officials first proposed awarding the licenses via a lottery system, but that was struck down by a judge. A three-person committee was then established to screen applications and select the nurseries.

The delays frustrated many legislators who fought for the bill. One of them, Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said he had been hopeful the process would move forward, but noted it now appears it may be delayed a little longer.

News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: 13 Challenges Filed Over Medical Marijuana Licenses
Author: Joe Reedy
Contact: Contact Page
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Tallahassee Democrat

 

[420 Warrior]

Don't they realize that it's the monopoly aspect of letting only a hand full of people make money hand over fist while depriving others of free market endeavors is what this resistance is all about. Both Ohio and now Florida have been met with stiff resistance on this strategy so maybe now states with these kind of back door tactics in mind will finally understand that this is not what the people want. It's not going to work, people aren't stupid and no matter how much we all want Cannabis set free, we're not going to just accept back room shady deals to see our dream become reality.

They're going to have to find another way and they're going to have to start looking at models in other states like California and many others where the details have been worked out and are working great for all parties involved, most importantly the patients.

It's a matter of putting sick people first, not putting the greed and money first, people are so done with seeing the rich get richer and the poor always getting the shaft. This is the age of information and they're going to have to look towards more legitimate ways of keeping their bank rolls fat and happy!

Trust me, there is plenty of money to be made from Cannabis but first it's going to have to be rescheduled and decriminalized across the board on the federal level then put to state votes to whether or not to legalize for all adults to use, then the cash cow will really start to moo and produce milk. Shady deals are what the black market does now and it's not a good strategy for our state government's to mimic.

I'm so proud of you guys in Florida for standing up and rejecting this model because this now means that other states, mine included, will have rethink things a little more if they're planning to use this same kind monopoly strategy. Georgia as we speak is trying to hammer out the details of how to produce Cannabis for MMJ patients so the fact that our neighbor as well as Ohio has rejected this, maybe our lawmakers here won't even consider it when they start their programs to produce MMJ here?

Thanks guys, y'all are doing us all a solid!