Ever since Floridians voted overwhelmingly approved to legalize medical marijuana, local municipalities have been struggling with the approval of dispensaries within their borders.
While many municipalities have banned them, the Orange County Commission voted Tuesday to allow dispensaries to set up shop.
Patients, though, have run into a completely different roadblock: a massive backlog of people seeking to get state medical marijuana ID cards.
The Florida Health Department said there are about 4,500 patients seeking to get medical marijuana cards at any one time.
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Attorney John Morgan said Wednesday that the state’s number is a fraction of the reality.
Morgan, who backed the Florida medical marijuana amendment, said the state office is woefully understaffed and the number of patients waiting for ID cards currently tops 50,000.
The wait time for a state medical marijuana ID card is about 30 days, the Health Department said.
Vicki Boell is one of the medical marijuana patients that have received an ID card from the state, and she praised the Orange County Commission for allowing dispensaries in the county.
“I was very happy to hear that, so that we don’t get in a situation where we can’t have, like, this dispensary here on Orange Avenue,” Boell said.
She currently drives from east Orange County to visit Knox Medical on Orange Avenue in Orlando to purchase medical marijuana.
She was hopeful that another dispensary will soon open closer to her home.
In the meantime, the number of people visiting dispensaries has markedly increased, Boell said.
“When they opened at 11 a.m., there were 15 people standing out here in line,” she said. “I waited about 25 minutes.”
Cox Media Group
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