San Felasco Nurseries is filing what is thought to be theĀ first protest over the state’s licensing process for growers of medical marijuana, according to documents obtained Friday by FloridaPolitics.com.
The 41-year-old nursery, based in Gainesville, is challenging its rejection in favor ofĀ Chestnut Hill Tree FarmĀ for the state’s northeast region.
In its petition to the Florida Department of Health, the nursery says it was the highest-ranked applicant to grow and process medicinal pot in the region, but that a bureaucratic bungle caused it to be wrongly knocked out of contention.
The purported reason was that a low-level employeeĀ at the nursery flunked a background check, the document says. That person’s name and backgroundĀ history was redacted for “confidentiality purposes.”
The nursery now counters that the workerĀ “has no record that would justify disqualification” and isn’t an owner or manager of the nursery. The department also did not immediately flag San Felasco when the results of the screening came back to tweak the application, which is a rules violation, the nursery said.
When word of a problem finally got back to San Felasco, the department led the nursery to think it wasn’t anĀ issue and “considered the application complete.”
In fact, the department moved the nursery on to the scoring process before disqualifying it, further suggestingĀ the errant background check was not going to be a barrier. Four other applicants were disqualified and were not later scored.Ā
Moreover, the petition argues, Chestnut Hill doesn’t meet “minimum requirements” under the new state law authorizing medical cannabis and should not have been eligible to win.
In 2014, lawmakersĀ passed and Gov.Ā Rick ScottĀ signed into law a measure legalizing low-THC, or ānon-euphoric,ā marijuana to help children with severe seizures and muscle spasms. THC is the chemical that causes the high from pot.
A three-member panel of state officials in DOH was tasked with selecting five approved pot providersĀ out of 28 nurseries that turned in applications by July 8. Those picks were announced late last month.
San Felasco’s protest may be first, but isn’t likely the last.Ā A medical marijuana lobbyist told FloridaPolitics.com this weekĀ a half-dozen other Florida nurseries that had applied but failed to become growers “are thinking seriously about protesting.”
FloridaPolitics.com sent a request for comment to DOH spokeswomanĀ Mara Gambineri. We’ll update when we hear back.
