The Florida Department of Health’s recent report on the state’s medical cannabis programs show the initiative is continuing to grow at a healthy clip.
The Department says there are now 120,351 patients in the registry, an increase of 3,223 since its last report the week before. With a population of around 21 million, this means around one in every 200 Floridians are registered.
Of the 120,351, card applications have been approved for 100,372; up 3,116 since the last update.
Processing times for both complete online and paper applications is currently at 13 days and 2,614 applications were currently being processed at the time of the report’s publishing (Friday, June 15).
The report states the amount of medical marijuana dispensed during the period June 8 – June 15 was 26.9 kilograms. As for low-THC cannabis, approximately 1.6 kilograms was dispensed during the period.
Low-THC cannabis is defined in Florida as having 0.8 percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and more than 10 percent of cannabidiol weight for weight.
As of last Friday, there were 1,339 physicians in the state qualified to refer patients to the program and 13 approved medical marijuana treatment centers, plus 43 approved retail dispensing locations.
On a related note, The DOH Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) held three public hearings during the previous week to gain insight regarding Florida residents’ views on rules related to the regulation of medical marijuana treatment centers. These centers are the only businesses permitted to grow, process, or sell medical marijuana in the state.
In other recent news out of the state, while in May a Tallahassee judge found Floridians have the right to smoke medical marijuana (currently not permitted), the DOH has filed an appeal on the verdict. This has triggered an automatic stay and the court’s ruling is not currently in effect. It seems many of the news reports encouraging Floridians to light up is potentially putting patients at risk of prosecution.
More from the OMMU’s latest update can be viewed here.
Florida voters legalized medical marijuana in November 2016, with more than 71% voting in favour. Prior to this occurring, close to 700,000 Floridians petitioned to have the issue of legalizing medical marijuana on the November ballot.
Further details on the state’s medical marijuana program can be found here.
