Pubdate: Sat, 02 Aug 2014
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2014 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Note: Named the St. Petersburg Times from 1884-2011.
Author: Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Page: B1

REGULATORS HEAR MORE MEDICAL POT COMPLAINTS

Issues Include Distribution And a Lottery System

TALLAHASSEE - Florida's attempt to draft a medical marijuana rule ran 
into another buzz-saw of complaints Friday as potential growers 
lamented being forced to truck their product across the state and 
investors warned that a lottery to select pot producers will scare 
away qualified companies.

The comments came at the second workshop held by the state Department 
of Health to get feedback from marijuana industry hopefuls about a 
proposed rule allowing for the legal cultivation of low in THC 
(tetrahydrocannabinol) and high in CBD (cannabidiol) for patients 
with seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms and cancer.

Florida legislators passed the law last spring legalizing the special 
strain of marijuana and ordered that five dispensaries must be in 
operation by Jan. 1 to start selling to patients who are put on a 
state-run "compassionate use registry."

But for every complaint from prospective business owners Friday, 
there was a plea from parents of children desperate to get medical 
marijuana to treat their sick and epileptic kids.

"Let's remember why we're here," said Dennis Deckerhoff, whose child 
has intractable epilepsy. "We can spend a lot of time making this 
thing perfect. I think it's pretty doggone good what we're doing."

Seth Hyman of Weston, whose 8-year-old daughter can have dozens of 
seizures a day, urged regulators to move hastily.

"For families like us, we want this to happen as quickly as possible 
but, at the same time, we believe Florida needs to get it right," he said.

More than 200 people signed up to speak at Friday's workshop as 
lobbyists representing manufacturers, testing labs, nurserymen, and 
investors are hoping to get a foothold into the business now in the 
event that voters approve Amendment 2 on the ballot in November, 
which would legalize broader use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Regulators revised the rule after the first workshop and agreed to 
allow each of the five organizations licensed to cultivate and 
develop the medical marijuana product to distribute it by truck or 
van across the state. In return, they have heightened the standards 
for who will be eligible to apply for the license.

Jennifer Tschetter, general counsel for the Department of Health, 
which is drafting the rule, said the decision was a compromise to 
address concerns that limiting each dispensing organization to one 
site, it was creating a virtual monopoly in each region.

"Our goal is to get the product to patients as soon as possible," she said.

But several speakers said that requiring nurseries to truck their 
product throughout the state would be expensive, dangerous for 
patients and drivers, and inefficient.

"You have a valuable drug product and a lot of cash. There's a 
tremendous amount of risk in that delivery process," said Robert 
Wallace, an owner of Chestnut Hill Tree Farm in Alachua. "Are we 
going to have to send a driver with a Brinks truck, with an armored 
vehicle or wearing a gun for protection?"

DOH also modified the rule to allow nurseries to partner with other 
entrepreneurs and investors as long as they have at least 25 percent 
ownership in the company.

The change, Tschetter said, was intended to address a fear by 
nurseries that they were putting too much of their assets at risk.

"The nursery will be an integral player but need not put all its 
resources on the line," she said.

The change is likely to increase the number of applicants to the 
state-run lottery, but concerns persist that it could mean less 
emphasis on growing and extracting a quality product for sick people 
who qualify to use the drug.

Several speakers repeated their concerns that the state should decide 
which applicants could provide the best product to patients most 
quickly before it chooses who will get the license through a lottery.

Paige Figi, the mother of Charlotte Figi who is the first child to 
use low-THC marijuana to treat epilepsy, urged regulators to seek a 
qualitative review of applicants. "I really hope this is done 
properly," she said.

Charles Brink, chairman of Tampa-based Full Spectrum Laboratories 
which has contracts to test marijuana in Canada and Colorado, warned 
that the process set up by Florida regulators will be financially too 
risky for qualified companies to get in.

"It is financially impossible to make this law work because the 
population isn't large enough," he said. "You are burdening growers."

But department officials have said they want to retain the lottery 
system to avoid protracted legal fights.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom