State health officials announced Monday that five Florida nurseries have been chosen to cultivate and distribute the first legal marijuana in the state, opening the door to the sale and distribution of the non-euphoric strains next year.
Costa Nursery Farms, of the Redland, won the bid for the Southeast Region. Knox Nursery, will grow it for the Central Region, including Tampa Bay. Hackney Nursery Company will grow it for the Northeast Region. Chestnut Hill Tree Farm will be the grower for the Northeast Region and Alpha Foliage will grow it for the Southwest Region.
Each of the five nurseries teamed with consultants, investors and out-of-state pot growers to develop their application and were chosen from a pool of 28 applicants from around the state.
The decision moves the state closer to implementing the 2014 law that allows for marijuana low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD to be grown in Florida to treat patients with intractable epilepsy and people with advanced cancer. Under the law, applicants must have been in business in Florida for at least 30 years and grow a minimum of 400,000 plants at the time they applied.
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