Two years ago, state lawmakers, as well as Governor Rick Scott, approved of medical cannabis in Florida. Now, the first dispensary is going to open next week. The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday gave Trulieve, a North Florida cultivator and dispensary, the ability to open up in Tallahassee and begin delivering marijuana throughout the state. When Trulieve opens on Tuesday, it is going toe the first time strains of cannabis are going to be available under a law in 2014 that intended to give medical marijuana with not much THC, the psychoactive ingredient, to patients suffering from cancer or experiencing seizures.
In addition to that, five other nurseries are going to start cultivating and extracting oils from marijuana, according to the Department of Health, and might soon follow in the footsteps of Trulieve and legally sell medical cannabis. For parents such as Donna Perez of Sebring, the opening of this dispensary is great news. Perez’s 3-year-old son, Noah, has seizures every day. She needs to be by Noah and take care of him all day, ensuring that he takes six medications daily. Noah still has seizures all the time and according to Perez, can’t even smile anymore.
“Maybe he can function for a day or not have seizures for a day or not choke,” she stated. “Even if it doesn’t work it would be worth a try.”
Patients, many of which are kids, have been waiting because of legal challenges as well as the drafting of state laws that delayed access to marijuana. As a result, many have been turning to the black market in order to get their hands on some medicine, according to Moriah Barnhart of Tampa, who founded CannaMoms in 2014.
“We’re spending all night watching our children to make sure they’re still alive and at the same time watching out the window to make sure we’re not being raided” by cops, she stated.
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