Florida medical marijuana dispensaries facing possible price hikes for license renewals
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Cannabis dispensaries could see price hikes when they go to renew their license with the state, and doctors are worried for their patients in Fort Myers.
For the last six years, if you wanted to sell medical marijuana legally in the State of Florida, you had to pay the state $60,000 every two years for a license.
Now, Florida’s Department of Health and the state are asking for more.
“So, like, wait, it went from $60,000 to over $1,000,000; it went up 20x,” Dean and Mead lawyer Dan Russell said.
Sellers are being told to pay more than $1.3 million every two years to renew their licenses.
“I really think that you were missing the site that it’s actually medicine,” Heather Auld said. She is a doctor at Compassionate Cannabis Clinic along Colonial Boulevard.
Dr. Auld said medical cannabis, which she prescribes, should not be treated the same as alcohol distribution. Now she is worried for her patients.
“There are going to be fewer dispensaries applying for licenses in the State of Florida,” she said.
Florida lawyers with ‘Dean and Mead’ agree.
“Florida really can’t be in the business of making money off of sick people,” Russell said.
Dan Russell and Will Hall are working with Sanctuary Wellness, a medical marijuana treatment center in Sebring, Florida.
“Our client Sanctuary Wellness is a medical marijuana treatment center,” Hall said. “Their license is up for renewal.”
After seeing the license renewal hikes, they filed a petition against the state last week.
“Renewal fees and application fees have to cover the entire program,” Hall said. “Our position is that no, it doesn’t. There are a lot of other income streams that the department has and those or if elected in a lot of its public documents.”
For instance, patients like the ones Dr. Auld sees have annual medical marijuana cards.
“The MMTs have to pay for the entire program to operate, then why is there a card fee at all? I think that is a very reasonable question,” Russell said.
A question they have asked the state.
Local doctors in our area are worried now for their patients.
“I think that this is going to affect the dispensaries first, but you know that they are not going to bear that cost by themselves,” Dr. Auld said.
She knows there is a trickle-down effect. Which could lead to patients looking elsewhere for treatments.
“Please don’t get it on the street,” she said. “We can try to figure out a different way to make your cannabis stretch further.”
It seems a resolution with the state could come as early as next week.
“We actually are moving very fast,” Hall said. “We have a final hearing set for next Wednesday.”