Tallahassee is getting a new medical marijuana dispensary.
Knox Medical, one of Florida’s seven licensed growers, is opening its third cannabis dispensary in Tallahassee. The company’s C-O-O Bruce Knox is proud of the company’s growth, but he admits a wave of local governments banning retail outlets presents an obstacle for his business.
“We have to go back [to] what the original legislative intent was,” Knox says, “and that was to allow patients access—accessibility—to the medicine. So for us it’s about trying to find population centers where they are allowing cannabis to come in.”
Next door to the new dispensary is a compassionate care clinic next door. That might raise eyebrows among those worried medical cannabis is another pill mill crisis in the making. But Knox says his business has no connection with the physician, and state regulations are enough to block doctor shopping.
“When a patient gets their approval from the doctor they have to download a form, send it in to the Office of Medical Marijuana which was the Office of Compassionate Use, and then you have to get an ID card before you can purchase,” he explains. “You know, that process has been taking anywhere from four to seven weeks at this point.”
Knox also says Florida’s database is continually updated to keep patients from using one doctor’s recommendation at multiple locations or dispensaries.
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