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Charlotte’s Web

Jack Latvala comes out against medical pot; the internet reacts

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Last Friday, Clearwater Republican state Sen. Jack Latvala announced he would be opposing Amendment 2, the imitative calling for legalizing medical marijuana in the Sunshine State. “Amendment 2 is bad for Florida,” Latvala says in a short video on the Facebook page created for his election campaign. “The constitution is forever,” he says. “Future legislators or judges can’t change it, even if science finds it harmful.” The reaction has been fierce on social media, with the announcement generating more than 100 comments on his campaign…

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State officials: Medical cannabis expansion could add $11.4 million in revenue

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A panel of state economists has estimated a minor expansion in Florida’s fledgling medical marijuana regime could add up to $11.4 million in new tax revenue. The Revenue Estimating Impact Conference met on Tuesday for its annual post-Session hearing, where economists from the Legislature, Governor’s office, and state agencies analyzed the likely fiscal costs and benefits of new laws approved during the 2016 lawmaking period. The highest-profile bill considered by the panel was HB 307, an expansion of the state’s “Right…

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Surterra moves forward with plans to cultivate, dispense medical marijuana

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Susan Driscoll understands why Floridians are upset. It has been years since the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act was signed into law, but progress has been slow going. There have been lawsuits and administrative challenges; lawmakers have complained about the implementation; and patients still can’t get the medicine they need.  “It’s frustrating,” said Driscoll, president of Surterra Therapeutics and managing director of Alpha Foliage. “We really want to get this to the patients as quickly as possible.” Alpha Surterra was chosen…

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Some progress but still waiting on medical marijuana in Florida

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

In the two years since the Florida Legislature passed a law allowing highly restricted use of medical marijuana to help people with seizures, the measure remains in regulatory limbo with more questions than answers. The low-potency marijuana allowed under the Compassionate Cannabis Act of 2014 is not getting to patients and that has key supporters in the Legislature frustrated. “We passed a law to respond to concerns from suffering families and we look up here a couple years later and…

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13 challenges filed over medical marijuana licenses

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

When Florida’s Office of Compassionate Care named five nurseries to grow and distribute medical marijuana in the state, many expected there would be a few challenges filed — but not the more than a dozen that had landed by Monday’s deadline. Department of Health officials said in an email that 13 administrative challenges across all five regions have been received. Lobbyists and officials who have been following the process had estimated there would be eight at the most. “I think…

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San Felasco tees up first protest over medical marijuana

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

San Felasco Nurseries is filing what is thought to be the 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 of Chestnut Hill Tree Farm 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…

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Medical marijuana rule-making workshop a buzzkill

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Department of Health officials Wednesday presented the first draft of rules to govern the growing, processing and dispensing of medical marijuana in the Sunshine State. But instead of a spirited debate, they mostly sat quietly, answering a few questions, but not hearing any substantive reaction from growers’ representatives or anyone else in the audience of about 25. That may have been because the proposed regulations weren’t available until people walked through the door for the hearing. The document itself covered an array…

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