As Florida health regulators work to craft medical marijuana rules that were supposed to have been published Tuesday, the state's cannabis growers and dispensaries are growing increasingly anxious about what they fear could be potentially onerous restrictions on the availability of edible marijuana.
- Medical marijuana businesses worry about delay in crafting edibles rules
- Florida Health Department says delay is due to lawsuit by farmers
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In states that have already implemented medical or recreational marijuana legalization programs, edibles are a popular delivery method, rivaling smokeable and vaped marijuana in terms of market share.
In passing legislation to implement Amendment 2 — the medical marijuana measure overwhelmingly approved last year by Florida voters — lawmakers expressly banned smokeable marijuana and dictated stringent regulation of edibles.
Their goal was to prevent the sale of candy-like marijuana that could be indirectly marketed to children. But as the Florida Department of Health takes more time to write its rules, concern is mounting that virtually all forms of edibles could be banned.
To that end, Surterra Florida, one of the state's licensed medical marijuana nurseries, has filed a petition with the department urging it to allow the sale of cannabis-infused chocolates, brownies, cookies, cupcakes, lozenges and pills.
"Anything that creates unnecessary barriers for patients to get the products they need and the medicine that they need is just something that we're going to push against pretty hard, and we'll be happy to keep raising our hands when we feel like something's standing in the way of a patient need," Surterra Florida President Wesley Reynolds said.
Health Department officials have declined to discuss their thinking on edibles, though much of it is sure to be guided by the Republican-controlled legislature's implementation language. The delay in issuing the medical marijuana rules is largely because of a lawsuit brought by a coalition of black farmers, according to the director of the department's Office of Compassionate Use.
While many medical marijuana retailers and patients are cautiously optimistic the rules will allow for a range of edible offerings, they're also preparing for disappointment, followed by even more waiting.
"It's very frustrating, because until you've walked in my shoes, you don't understand," said Nicole Hill, who uses a marijuana extract, CBD, to treat her epilepsy. "It's sad to me, too, because you're sitting in a room with people who are telling you their story — and I've participated in so many of those meetings, people that are begging for help and relief — and they're just passing things based on budget and based on... I mean, it doesn't make sense," she said.