Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2014 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Author: Frank Cerabino Page: B1 5 GROWERS MAY HIT ( JACK)POT WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA When I moved to Florida 30 years ago, it was for a job as a newspaper writer. If only I had a crystal ball. It would have told me to open a plant nursery - preferably someplace in Northeast Florida. But short of a crystal ball, how was I to know? Back in 1984, Florida didn't seem like a place where a guy could make a fortune growing marijuana legally. But that's the way it's looking in 2014. This spring, the state passed a law that would allow a non-euphoric strain of marijuana called Charlotte's Web to be used for treatment of epileptic seizures in children. And in November, voters will decide in a statewide referendum whether the euphoric strains of marijuana should be legalized as a medicinal treatment for a variety of adult ailments, such as Parkinson's disease, glaucoma and cancer. Where's all this marijuana going to come from? A small number of soon-to-be very fortunate Florida nurseries. State legislators weren't in love with the idea of legalizing medicinal marijuana, and many of them were dragged reluctantly into the Charlotte's Web law. So they crafted a restrictive law. Only five nurseries in the state will be allowed to grow marijuana, the legislators decided. They divided the state into five regions, and sanctioned one grower in each of these regions to be designated as the sole source of legally grown marijuana. And then to prevent a stampede of people getting into the nursery business, the lawmakers decided that to be eligible to grow legal marijuana, the nursery had to be operating for the past 30 years. There are about four dozen nurseries across the state that have been in business this long and meet the other eligibility requirements. (Who knows? Maybe they had crystal balls?) The lucky five will be selected by lottery, the lawmakers decided. If your nursery is in Central Florida, it has less than a 10 percent chance of winning the lottery. It's slightly better in Southeast Florida, but your chances really improve in the Northeast Florida region, where there are only two eligible nurseries. As it stands now, there might not seem to be a lot of money in growing marijuana legally. The Charlotte's Web treatment was pioneered in Colorado, and by the end of last year, only 199 children were registered in Colorado as patients receiving the drug. So if Florida ends up with similar numbers, nurseries aren't going to get rich growing pot for such a relatively small number of children. Especially considering that, if selected, the nursery would have to pay a $150,000 application fee to the state. Then why was there a standing-room-only crowd of eager lobbyists, businessmen and growers at a recent marijuana law workshop meeting at the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee? It's because they're looking beyond the children needing Charlotte's Web and toward the November vote, which would suddenly create a market for legally grown marijuana to treat hundreds of thousands of the state's seniors. It's why eligible growers are getting offers from would-be business partners and why the state is being pressured to allow more growers to be selected and to replace the lottery system with one that would allow growers to be selected by merit. Or by the right connection. It's a clear sign of a new multimillion-dollar business starting to take root. And if you were lucky enough to get in the nursery business 30 years ago, you'd be in the middle of it. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom