Less than two years after voters approved medical marijuana, there are now more than 100,000 medical marijuana patients in Florida, according to the state Department of Health's Office of Medical Marijuana Use.
The milestone comes at a time when the Florida Department of Health are locked in a legal battle with patients over access to smokable medical marijuana. The milestone also means that the state can now issue another four licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana, an increase from the current 13 licenses.
However, issuing new license for facilities could take some time.
“The department fully expects that, once we have the ability to accept new MMTC [Medical Marijuana Treatment Center] license applications, that four new licenses will be available,” said Florida Department of Health spokesman Devin Galetta.
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For the department, that means not just having 100,000 patients, but making sure those are active patients, a process that the department would not provide a timeline.
“From my perspective, I really don’t know what the holdup at the Department of Health is, but I know more license means more medicine makers and more options for patients, and that is what we really need to be focused,” said Josephine Cannella-Krehl of Cannabis Therapeutics. “It is my hope the department will move expeditiously and serve the next group of patients.”
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Last September, there were only 37,830 registered medical marijuana patients in Florida, with the state adding about 8,000 new patients a month.
“It’s not surprising that we hit 100,000. People have been telling us for a long time that they want a better approach than turning to prescription drugs and the side effects that come with those,” Cannella-Krehl said.
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Cox Media Group
