The Florida Department of Healthannounced Monday which five nurseries will participate in the state’s first medical marijuana program.
This is a step toward getting the program up and running, since it was signed into law about a year and a half ago.
Patients will still have to wait months to receive the final product.
The DOH divided the state into five regions. Each nursery gets a region.
Alpha Foliage of Hillsborough County was picked for the southwest region.
The Hackney Nursery of Quincy was picked for the northwest region. George Hackney said he got the call around noon.
“Shocked. It kind of goes the gamut of the emotions, you know? I mean, wow. And then [we were] humbled… we celebrate for a few minutes and then we realize we’ve got a daunting task in front of us,” he said.
Now that they’ve gotten the license, the nurseries need to post a $5 million performance bond and then get state approval to begin growing marijuana. They have about nine months to start dispensing the product.
The nurseries will grow, process and distribute a non-euphoric strain of marijuana that will be made into an oil. It’s meant to treat patients suffering from cancer and epileptic seizures.
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