Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Twenty-four Florida commercial plant nurseries have applied for state licenses to grow non-euphoric marijuana and process and sell a medicinal oil that can be used to treat epilepsy and several other medical conditions in Florida.
The applicants are spread across five regions and their proposals will be competing to win a single license that the state Department of Health will award each region. There are eight applicants who applied for the license for Central Florida. All five regions drew at least four applicants.
The application pool, announced late Wednesday, demonstrates, at last, that there is clear business interest in Florida's newly-legalized, yet highly-regulated and limited medical marijuana program. The winning companies will be committed to growing a plant they've never grown and processing a medicine they've never made, to sell to a market no one has clearly defined.
They intend to develop a medicinal oil high in content of cannabidiol, or CBD, which is the chemical in marijuana believed to be effective in treating a handful of conditions; and low in the content of the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the marijuana chemical that gets people high. Such oil is sold in other states and countries under various brand names, most notably Charlotte's Web and Epidiolex.
Estimates have varied widely on the potential customer market in Florida, from a few hundred willing patients to thousands.
The deadline for applications passed at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Some potential licensees have said they were interested in applying because of the expectation that Florida will one day expand its medical marijuana program to include all forms of marijuana and unlimited levels of THC, which is believed to be effective in treating many other conditions, from the side effects of cancer treatment to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Florida Department of Health has estimated the state market for all medical marijuana to be in the hundreds of thousands of patients.
In Central Florida the applications were filed by Deleons' Bromeliads, Inc., Dewar Nurseries, Inc., Knox Nursery Inc., McCrory's Sunny Hill Nursery, Razbuton, Inc., Redland Nursery, Inc., Spring Oaks Greenhouse, Inc. and Treadwell Nursery..
Getting to this point was arduous. Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill legalizing this drug in June, 2014. For the second half of 2014 and the first five months of 2015 the Department of Health held numerous public hearings, drafted rules, faced court challenges to the proposals, held more public hearings, rewrote the rules and faced more court challenges, finally getting the go-ahead in May.
All of that has gone on as sufferers of intractable epilepsy and other conditions, and their families, have fumed and anguished over the multiple delays.
"It's been a process like I've never been a part of before," said Bruce Knox, owner of Knox Nursery in Winter Garden. "We're just really excited to be done with this. I think that the rule is solid, and I think the department is going to do a great job in finding the best qualified applicant in the district."
The Department of Health will select the winning proposals based on the final rules that were developed this spring, in part by a committee that included Knox.
There is no set time for those decisions, but once the licenses are awarded, the nurseries have 60 days to begin cultivating their first crops, and another 150 days to offer the medicine for sale.
In order to qualify, the growers had to have been in business for at least 30 years, had to be registered to grow at least 400,000 plants, and had to demonstrate the financial means to start the business under the new rules.
The Florida Legislature wrote those requirements into the enabling law in the spring of 2014 to make sure the licenses would go to time-tested, Florida companies. Only about 100 nurseries, out of 7,000 registered in Florida, were even eligible.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: 24 companies applied to grow medical marijuana - Orlando Sentinel
Author: Scott Powers
Contact: smpowers@tribune.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Orlando News, Weather & Sports - Orlando Sentinel
The applicants are spread across five regions and their proposals will be competing to win a single license that the state Department of Health will award each region. There are eight applicants who applied for the license for Central Florida. All five regions drew at least four applicants.
The application pool, announced late Wednesday, demonstrates, at last, that there is clear business interest in Florida's newly-legalized, yet highly-regulated and limited medical marijuana program. The winning companies will be committed to growing a plant they've never grown and processing a medicine they've never made, to sell to a market no one has clearly defined.
They intend to develop a medicinal oil high in content of cannabidiol, or CBD, which is the chemical in marijuana believed to be effective in treating a handful of conditions; and low in the content of the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the marijuana chemical that gets people high. Such oil is sold in other states and countries under various brand names, most notably Charlotte's Web and Epidiolex.
Estimates have varied widely on the potential customer market in Florida, from a few hundred willing patients to thousands.
The deadline for applications passed at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Some potential licensees have said they were interested in applying because of the expectation that Florida will one day expand its medical marijuana program to include all forms of marijuana and unlimited levels of THC, which is believed to be effective in treating many other conditions, from the side effects of cancer treatment to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Florida Department of Health has estimated the state market for all medical marijuana to be in the hundreds of thousands of patients.
In Central Florida the applications were filed by Deleons' Bromeliads, Inc., Dewar Nurseries, Inc., Knox Nursery Inc., McCrory's Sunny Hill Nursery, Razbuton, Inc., Redland Nursery, Inc., Spring Oaks Greenhouse, Inc. and Treadwell Nursery..
Getting to this point was arduous. Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill legalizing this drug in June, 2014. For the second half of 2014 and the first five months of 2015 the Department of Health held numerous public hearings, drafted rules, faced court challenges to the proposals, held more public hearings, rewrote the rules and faced more court challenges, finally getting the go-ahead in May.
All of that has gone on as sufferers of intractable epilepsy and other conditions, and their families, have fumed and anguished over the multiple delays.
"It's been a process like I've never been a part of before," said Bruce Knox, owner of Knox Nursery in Winter Garden. "We're just really excited to be done with this. I think that the rule is solid, and I think the department is going to do a great job in finding the best qualified applicant in the district."
The Department of Health will select the winning proposals based on the final rules that were developed this spring, in part by a committee that included Knox.
There is no set time for those decisions, but once the licenses are awarded, the nurseries have 60 days to begin cultivating their first crops, and another 150 days to offer the medicine for sale.
In order to qualify, the growers had to have been in business for at least 30 years, had to be registered to grow at least 400,000 plants, and had to demonstrate the financial means to start the business under the new rules.
The Florida Legislature wrote those requirements into the enabling law in the spring of 2014 to make sure the licenses would go to time-tested, Florida companies. Only about 100 nurseries, out of 7,000 registered in Florida, were even eligible.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: 24 companies applied to grow medical marijuana - Orlando Sentinel
Author: Scott Powers
Contact: smpowers@tribune.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Orlando News, Weather & Sports - Orlando Sentinel
