Pubdate: Thu, 06 Nov 2014
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2014 Bradenton Herald
Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/submit-letter/
Website: http://www.bradenton.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58
Author: Kathryn Moschella

DOWN BUT NOT OUT, ALTMED VOWS TO CONTINUE ITS FIGHT FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- The sentiment at AltMed, the medical marijuana
company based in Lakewood Ranch, is one of disappointment, but not
surrender following Tuesday's defeat of Amendment 2, which would have
legalized the use of medical marijuana in Florida.

"Although we spent a lot of money up to this point in time, we believe
there are so many patients who really need this. I can't tell you how
many people have called and visited us. Their stories are amazing and
filled with such desperate need," Altmed co-executive chairman Michael
Smullen said Wednesday.

The company, which is made up of retired pharmaceutical executives,
invested at least $5 million of its own money, purchased and prepared
a 20-acre property in rural east Sarasota County and obtained a
nursery license for an indoor grow site.

AltMed also developed partnerships with several area physicians and a
Canadian medical marijuana company, Vida Cannabis, to collaborate on
clinical research, quality assurance and cultivation techniques.

"We're going to hold this thing together and keep our business going
whether it takes two years, or sooner. We'll be ready to go," Smullen
said.

He and his co-owners are hoping that the Florida Legislature will pass
a bill similar to Senate Bill 1030, which Gov. Rick Scott approved
offering a lower-psychoactive strain of marijuana known as
"Charlotte's Web" to patients suffering primarily from severe epilepsy.

AltMed, Smullen said, is hoping to be one of five companies chosen by
the state lottery to be permitted to grow and dispense this type of
cannabis in Southwest Florida.

"Right now, the lottery is still being challenged by several nurseries
across the state," Smullen said. "But we should know a judicial ruling
in the next week or so. I'm hoping this will all be wrapped up in
about three weeks and we'll get elected.

"We're proud of what we did, and this setback is not enough to knock
us out of our mission," he said. "We're probably more up for the fight
than we ever were."
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MAP posted-by: Matt