Florida Department of Health

An administrative law judge found the $1.33 million renewal fee for medical marijuana companies to do business in Florida reflects the “plain language” of the Legislature's intent.

Sanctuary Cannabis, one of 24 medical marijuana operators in the state, filed a challenge arguing that the health department's $1.33 million biennial fee is “wholly without logic or reason.”

The bills would direct the Florida Department of Health to develop a program that would contract with vendors to “increase water safety in this state."

Public health initiatives have long been divisive, but the pandemic turned up the volume to painful levels in Florida, Texas and other states amid a surge of growing mistrust of scientific institutions.

An administrative law judge issued an order allowing a challenge by Sanctuary Cannabis to proceed and granted an emergency motion to force health officials to provide info used to calculate the new fee.

The state adopted a rule creating a formula that set the renewal fee at $1.33 million every two years — more than 22 times the $60,000 biennial operators had been paying.

Jason Salemi, a USF associate professor of epidemiology, says a court settlement in which the state will release data allows people to make “informed decisions,' though he questioned the need and cost.

The settlement requires the department to provide COVID data to the public for the next three years, including weekly statistics on cases, deaths and vaccinations by county, age group, gender and race,

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County canceled five health warnings due to harmful algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee River

The state cites the 11th Circuit appellate panel's decision in a "virtually identical case" in asking the court to allow a law preventing minors from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy.