Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
There is a verb from the Psychedelic '60s that describes a particular kind of selfish act: bogart.
Floridians can slightly adapt the derisive term to describe the behavior of agribusinesses and politicians who are rigging the state's medical marijuana law for the benefit of a few influential people.
Instead of sharing the business — passing it along, as it were — they are trying to "bogart" it for themselves. This selfish act is made particularly disgusting because it has delayed relief to tens of thousands of Floridians expected to benefit from the medical marijuana measure the Legislature passed in 2014.
Rather than adopt an open-market model, the Legislature severely restricted the number of nurseries that would be granted licenses to grow the non-euphoric types of medical marijuana frequently referred to as Charlotte's Web. Not only that, the Legislature adopted criteria for acceptable growers obviously designed to favor certain nurseries.
On Monday, the state Department of Health awarded five licenses to produce an ingestible, low-THC oil. With doctor approval, it will be used to treat patients with epilepsy and cancer. Each license covers a specific geographic area. The license for Southeast Florida, including Broward and Palm Beach counties, went to Costa Farms in Miami-Dade County.
Costa benefited from an amendment to the law that required pot producers seeking a Florida license to have been in business for at least 30 years and to be producing 400,000 plants when they applied for the license — a provision that perfectly describes Costa.
Costa also sued to stop the Health Department's original plan to implement the law, which was to award the licenses by lottery. Why trust luck when you are more likely to prevail when you trust lobbyists? That lawsuit added to delays in relief that was supposed to be available by Jan. 1 of this year, but will not be forthcoming until next summer at the earliest.
And the delays could get even worse. Some of the applicants who did not make the cut are almost certain to sue. They can argue, among other things, that the complex selection criteria, which resulted in applications hundreds of pages long, did not make sense.
And there's another problem. The selection rules were developed with input of some of the growers themselves. Four of the five nurseries chosen to grow the pot had seats on the panel that helped develop the rules. That will give at least initial credibility to any claims in lawsuits that the winners benefited from inside information or undue influence.
Costa Farms was one of the winners that provided input on the rules. The other three winners in that insider group were Hackney Nursery Company of Quincy, Chestnut Hill Tree Farm of Alachua and Knox Nursery of Winter Garden. Alpha Foliage of Homestead was the other grower selected.
There is one possible upside to the selfishness of the businesses that won licenses to produce medical marijuana. To make more money, they will pressure lawmakers to expand the too-narrow list of illnesses and conditions that qualify for treatment.
Some of the decisions could be taken out of lawmakers' hands by a medical marijuana constitutional amendment expected to be on the 2016 ballot. A medical marijuana measure in 2014 that was broader than the current law achieved a majority, but fell just short of the 60 percent required for approval.
We understand that for health and safety there must be strict regulations governing medical marijuana. But the regulations, which should focus on the quality of the end product, have to make sense. A 30-year requirement to get into the business doesn't. And any producer meeting state regulations should be able to compete. Instead, Florida's politicians and business-bogarting producers colluded to pick winners and losers.
The biggest losers so far? Patients who continue to be denied a legal means to end their suffering.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Insiders Win While Patients Lose On Medical Marijuana
Author: Web Staff
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Sun Sentinel
Floridians can slightly adapt the derisive term to describe the behavior of agribusinesses and politicians who are rigging the state's medical marijuana law for the benefit of a few influential people.
Instead of sharing the business — passing it along, as it were — they are trying to "bogart" it for themselves. This selfish act is made particularly disgusting because it has delayed relief to tens of thousands of Floridians expected to benefit from the medical marijuana measure the Legislature passed in 2014.
Rather than adopt an open-market model, the Legislature severely restricted the number of nurseries that would be granted licenses to grow the non-euphoric types of medical marijuana frequently referred to as Charlotte's Web. Not only that, the Legislature adopted criteria for acceptable growers obviously designed to favor certain nurseries.
On Monday, the state Department of Health awarded five licenses to produce an ingestible, low-THC oil. With doctor approval, it will be used to treat patients with epilepsy and cancer. Each license covers a specific geographic area. The license for Southeast Florida, including Broward and Palm Beach counties, went to Costa Farms in Miami-Dade County.
Costa benefited from an amendment to the law that required pot producers seeking a Florida license to have been in business for at least 30 years and to be producing 400,000 plants when they applied for the license — a provision that perfectly describes Costa.
Costa also sued to stop the Health Department's original plan to implement the law, which was to award the licenses by lottery. Why trust luck when you are more likely to prevail when you trust lobbyists? That lawsuit added to delays in relief that was supposed to be available by Jan. 1 of this year, but will not be forthcoming until next summer at the earliest.
And the delays could get even worse. Some of the applicants who did not make the cut are almost certain to sue. They can argue, among other things, that the complex selection criteria, which resulted in applications hundreds of pages long, did not make sense.
And there's another problem. The selection rules were developed with input of some of the growers themselves. Four of the five nurseries chosen to grow the pot had seats on the panel that helped develop the rules. That will give at least initial credibility to any claims in lawsuits that the winners benefited from inside information or undue influence.
Costa Farms was one of the winners that provided input on the rules. The other three winners in that insider group were Hackney Nursery Company of Quincy, Chestnut Hill Tree Farm of Alachua and Knox Nursery of Winter Garden. Alpha Foliage of Homestead was the other grower selected.
There is one possible upside to the selfishness of the businesses that won licenses to produce medical marijuana. To make more money, they will pressure lawmakers to expand the too-narrow list of illnesses and conditions that qualify for treatment.
Some of the decisions could be taken out of lawmakers' hands by a medical marijuana constitutional amendment expected to be on the 2016 ballot. A medical marijuana measure in 2014 that was broader than the current law achieved a majority, but fell just short of the 60 percent required for approval.
We understand that for health and safety there must be strict regulations governing medical marijuana. But the regulations, which should focus on the quality of the end product, have to make sense. A 30-year requirement to get into the business doesn't. And any producer meeting state regulations should be able to compete. Instead, Florida's politicians and business-bogarting producers colluded to pick winners and losers.
The biggest losers so far? Patients who continue to be denied a legal means to end their suffering.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Insiders Win While Patients Lose On Medical Marijuana
Author: Web Staff
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Sun Sentinel
