The deadline for challenges to the state’s newly approved list of medical marijuana growers was Monday. More than a dozen challenges have been filed.
The five approved nurseries are Hackney Nursery Company, Chestnut Hill Tree Farm, Knox Nursery, Alpha Foliage, and Costa Nursery Farms. But at least 13 other challenges have come in to the Florida Department of Health, and those challenges could lead to more delays for the state's fledging medical marijuana program.
One company, San Felasco Nurseries, says the state misapplied a rule dealing with employee background checks, causing it to lose out on a contract. One of its employees had a misdemeanor drug possession charge that was expunged.
Perkins and TropiFlora have also filed challenges.
According to the News Service of Florida, TropiFlora is accusing the Florida Department of Health of rejecting its application due to a financial paperwork dispute. The excluded nurseries also say some of the winners had an unfair advantage because four of them served on the rule-making committee.
Florida’s path toward a non-euphoric strain of marijuana has been filled with legal challenges. The law authorizing the strain came with a January 2015 start date. But the medication--mostly for terminally and severely ill Floridians, is a year overdue because of wrangling over how nurseries would be selected.
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