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Medical Marijuana Centers Face Food-Safety Inspections

Cannabis plant
Wikimedia Commons
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

One of Florida's largest medical marijuana treatment centers has stopped processing cannabis until it meets a food-safety inspection deadline.

The Miami Herald reported Thursday that Surterra halted its production of new items last week after it was notified that the state Department of Health was enforcing a provision requiring medical marijuana treatment centers to get third-party inspections.

Surterra operates eight locations around Florida. Only Trulieve has more locations with 15 dispensaries.

Surterra says it's in the process of completing the required inspections and expects its certification process to be completed in the next few weeks.

Many marijuana businesses ignored the inspection requirement, believing it was part of the state's guidelines on edible medical marijuana. The Department of Health is still working on rules for edible marijuana.