Medical Marijuana Could be Available in Florida Next Week

In this photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, packaging for medical marijuana is displayed at Vireo Health of NY, a dispensary in White Plains, N.Y.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health informed Trulieve and Hackney Nursery that they have received authorization to process and dispense low-THC cannabis.

These are the six farms that were granted permission to start cultivating marijauna for medical purposes. Health officials first proposed awarding the licenses via a lottery system, but a judge struck that down. Up until now, many patients were unable to get access due to pending legal challenges to the law as well as delays in the state’s drafting of medical weed regulations. The company is the only dispensing organization in the state to get state approval to begin dispensing the product, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Health.

The 2016 law also allows the dispensing organizations to grow full-strength pot, which will be available to terminally ill patients.

Florida’s medical cannabis program is limited by state law. “And we are most excited to get this much anticipated medicine to the patients of Florida”, said Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers. However, patients do not need to wait.

After two years of waiting, patients in Florida will finally be able to obtain medical marijuana next Tuesday. Besides Trulieve, five other weed growers are awaiting their final approval from the state before opening their own dispensaries.

More than a year-and-a-half behind schedule, a strain of medical marijuana was made available Wednesday to Floridians suffering from cancer and severe seizures.

Patients seeking treatment must be registered with Florida first, but as yet, there are no names in the state’s database.

Currently, 25 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana in some form. In a 2015 Harris poll, findings showed that 81 percent of US citizens support its legalization across the country. With facilities in Tampa and Tallahassee, Surterra Therapeutics has plans to start selling medical marijuana by the end of summer.