As Florida inches closer to recreational marijuana with a 2024 ballot initiative, the Sunshine State is looking to double the size of its medical marijuana industry within the next six months.
Florida’s $2 billion medical-only cannabis market is already the nation’s most lucrative — and the state Department of Health has just spiked the biennial license fee from $60,000 to $1.33 million to grow, process and sell the substance.
Florida’s medical-only market is also the nation’s largest — its patient roster is 15 times larger than it was 5 years ago when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Medical Use of Marijuana law that removed smoking restrictions.
Today, the Sunshine State is home about 872,000 patients with ID cards issued by 2,741 physicians filled at 618 dispensaries, according to the state’s top marijuana regulator.
Citing a 71% increase in active patients over just the past two years, Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use is now hoping to process 22 more medical cannabis licenses by this summer, which would nearly double the number of operators.
A medical marijuana card costs $75 each time it is issued or renewed, which is required every six to seven months.
ID holders cannot own or purchase a firearm, and are banned from obtaining or keeping a commercial driving license
Doctors determine the dosage allowed (for smoking, the maximum is 2.5 ounces for a 35-day supply), which insurance will not pay for because medical marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.
That federal ban means workers are not protected from adverse action by their employees if they test positive for use of medical marijuana — even with a prescription.
Medical marijuana can be prescribed for cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, a terminal condition and chronic nonmalignant pain.
Florida law also allows doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for conditions “of the same class” such as sickle cell anemia, eating disorders and anxiety.
Research studies are mixed on whether medical marijuana use is a better option than opioids to manage pain or if it increases risk of opioid misuse.
But for patients such as Tom Grebenstein, who is missing a kidney and is allergic to opioids, it has been a godsend.
“Cannabis is my medicine,” said Grebenstein, who works as a market lead for Green Dragon and uses medical marijuana to treat his chronic back pain and Chrohn’s disease. “Before I started using cannabis medically, I hadn’t slept more than four consecutive hours in 15 years.”
Unlike opioids, which were blamed for 112,000 U.S. deaths last year including 4,000 people in Florida, “marijuana kills nobody,” said Dr. James Campbell, of the Medical Marijuana Treatment Clinics of Florida, which has an office in The Villages.
Campbell became a prescribing physician four years ago after two of his friends died from other prescription drug misuse.
“Benzodiazepines and opiates kill people,” he said. “Larry was killed by an opiate, Matt was killed by benzodiazepine. Marijuana is not like opiates where you feel like you’re going to die without it. It is a matter of, ‘Gee, if I don’t take this today, my back’s going to hurt by sundown.’”
While it may take weeks for a traditional opioid or other medication to bring relief, medical marijuana works more quickly, he said.
Marijuana comes from the dried flowers, leaves, stems or seeds from a cannabis plant that is made up of more than 100 cannabinoids; the two main cannabinoids with therapeutic benefits are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
The psychoactive effects of a THC “high”, such as feeling euphoric, relaxed or sleepy, are well known. But researchers note that it also has the properties of a pain reliever, mood regulator, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and vomiting reducer.
Some researchers point to CBD’s potential to treat epilepsy, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, some tumors and drugs dependency.
Both are available locally.
The area surrounding The Villages is now home to 13 medical dispensaries. Additionally, CBD and other cannabinoids like CBG and CBC are sold at The Pharm Stand at Brownwood Paddock Square.
While some people still are wary of medical marijuana use, Dr. Campbell believes attitudes will continue to change with time and education. His clinic has hosted more than 200 free seminars in partnership with Medical Marijuana Awareness Seminars at The Waterfront Inn.
But the debate is not likely to end soon, with DeSantis warning two months ago that the state’s medical cannabis law is being used as a “pretext” for people who want to consume marijuana recreationally.
“I look at someone who has Lou Gehrig’s disease or terminal cancer or multiple sclerosis, I think the Florida voters wanted them to have access to medical marijuana under the supervision of a physician,” he said at a town hall in December. “I want people to have their suffering relieved.”
But he has called recreational marijuana a “real problem,” lamented its “stench” and warned that “drugs are killing this country,” even as he concedes that the Office of the Attorney General’s attempt to keep it off the ballot will likely fail.
“This stuff is very powerful now that they’re putting on the street,” he said of the difference between today’s marijuana and that of previous generations. “It’s very bad for the youth.”
If passed, anyone 21 or older would be allowed to use and possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana without a medical marijuana card.
The Florida Supreme Court is expected to decide by April 1 whether it will make the ballot or not.
Multiple surveys show that 7 out of 10 voters support the measure, which by most estimates would double or triple the $2 billion cannabis industry almost immediately.
State economists say that move would generate between $196 million and $431 million in annual sales tax revenue.
Its biggest backer is the company that stands to benefit most.
Trulieve, the country’s largest medical marijuana producer, which operates 121 of its 181 dispensaries in Florida, has spent more than $40 million on the referendum campaign.
“This carefully curated ballot summary misleads in ways that, though sometimes subtle, are likely to influence voters — and in a way that entrenches the sponsor’s monopolistic stranglehold on the marijuana market,” Solicitor general Henry Whitaker wrote in the brief. “In its pursuit of a larger customer base and greater profits, Trulieve has invited millions of Floridians to join it in reckless violation of federal criminal law.”
Medical marijuana is now legal in 40 states, and recreational use is legal in 24 states, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.
“Getting a ballot initiative across the finish line in any state is not an easy task, but we’re certainly encouraged by where we ware today,” responded Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, whose company has local dispensaries in Lady Lake, Summerfield and Leesburg.
H/T: www.thevillagesdailysun.com
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