Health officials in Florida are staying true to a deadline in February for its first medical marijuana industry to find approval to start cultivating non-intoxicating marijuana, even with “hearings in license challenges stacked up through mid-summer.” Mara Gambineri, Department of Health spokeswoman, states that on Monday, five dispensaries, all of which were selected by a panel of three members to cultivate and give out cannabis low in THC, will be submitting applications for authorization. This must be done before February 7th, the first deadline in a process that is a year late because of legal issues.
Upset lawmakers who had key roles in the passage of a law in 2014 that legalized medical marijuana for patients suffering from severe conditions, such as muscle spasm or cancer, are looking for options to hurry the process of getting marijuana products distributed. Rob Bradley, Chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries, will be receiving an update from the Department of Health this week. Bradley stated that he is “interested in creating an alternative administrative procedural system to deal with challenges” to the licenses already given out by the agency.
“This has gone on too long,” he stated, highlighting that those applicants that were not approved.
Thirteen issues that the licensing process faced have been split among five law judges, with hearing in the cases planned from March through the end of July, documents filed with the Division of Administrative Hearings revealed. However, the agency’s decision to continue the process although the fact that the licenses could be overturned has created tension among competitors.
“This has put many people in a very awkward situation,” Louis Rotundo, a lobbyist who stands for the Florida Medical Cannabis Association said. “Millions of dollars are at risk, potentially, with no guarantee that, at the end of this process, you’ll still be the license holder.”
MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | new@marijuanastocks.com
