The Florida Department of Health recently released the list of nurseries that applied to grow medical marijuana.
This comes more than a year after the state legalized this non-euphoric marijuana strain. It will be processed into an oil that would treat conditions like epilepsy and cancer.
Twenty-four nurseries made the list, but only five will be picked.
Lawmakers divided the state into five regions. That’s one license per region.
Those chosen nurseries will grow, process and sell the marijuana product.
Dennis Cathcart is the co-owner of Tropiflora. His company is on the list of applicants. It operates in Manatee County.
Cathcart is preparing for a possible license. That’s meant finding a warehouse for operations, working with an investment company and thinking about more staff.
It’s also meant learning about the product itself.
“It’s a real production. It’s something really much more sophisticated than what we’re doing now. Now, as the licensed grower, of course, I have to be brought up to speed. I’ll have to be schooled, but we'll also have other growers no doubt with expertise,” he said.
A spokesperson with the Department of Health wrote in an email that for the most part the agency must make a decision on any applications within 90 days of receiving it.
