Cannabis in Florida: The medical benefits, the business boom & a controversial past
The new normal is a shade greener in Florida: Legal medical marijuana is now widely available in Tampa Bay. Though the community has had a contentious relationship with pot, cannabis dispensaries are now as easy to find hereabouts as Amscots. They are convenient and well-regulated, and maybe not exactly what you pictured — a world away from the canna cafes in Amsterdam. Here, dispensary shops are clinical, hygienic with modern, minimalistic decor: Think dentist office meets Apple store. The person helping you is trained in the nuances of various strains, Indica, Sativa and hybrids. Employees have professional titles like “care consultant.” They answer questions and match your symptoms with a strain to make sure you get the relief you need. FL Dispensaries, an online resource for all products and businesses in the state that are related to cannabis, has one of the best, most easy-to-understand explanations of why our bodies were built to respond to cannabis’s properties. The website goes into the two types of receptors — CB1 receptors mostly found in the brain, and CB2 receptors, which are found throughout the body — and talks about how cannabinoids are also known to have antioxidant, antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal properties. “Essentially the biochemical structure of cannabinoids allows it to latch onto molecules in germs thereby rendering them harmless,” the site says. No matter how you dress it up in business casual, though, weed culture’s irreverent absurdities creep in. The goofy names of marijuana strains remain. You can purchase anything from Maui Wowie to Banana Hammock to Lucinda Williams in our state. (Find out more at fldispensaries.com.) One medical marijuana card-carrier we know, who asked us to identify her as Miss Wyatt, was surprised by how dispensaries operate in Florida: “They don’t refer to it as bud; they call it flower,” she says. “It’s not like out West where everything’s in jars and you can see it all.” You’re first greeted by a receptionist, she says. After you’re called, a salesperson will hand you a list with one side having indica on the left, sativa on the right, and hybrids in the middle. “Indica is more for physical pain and it makes you wanna kick back on the couch. Whereas the sativa is more a mental thing. That’s the one that makes you giggle and want to get up and clean the house and bake cookies.” In her mid-50s with a sassy Southern accent, Wyatt lives in Clearwater. She has two pet goats and is waif-thin despite having put on a few pounds in the past months. Her general practitioner recommended she use cannabis with THC to gain weight. She says she’s been happy with it so far and shops at different dispensaries to take advantage of their sales and promotions. Allowed 2.5 ounces of flower a month, Wyatt says her purchases are entered into a state-managed database, so she can’t buy more than the legal limit. Her experience at Surterra was “fancy but not as friendly as the others, but the product was really good.” Fluent has the best customer service but not the best selection, she feels. Trulieve is her favorite because the customer service is pleasant and professional, and she likes their variety of strains. It’s in the Cards What’s involved with getting a medical marijuana card? The first step is to seek a diagnosis by a qualified marijuana doctor who will make the recommendation to the state that you qualify for a medical marijuana card. Doctors are listed online or you can find one in the searchable database at the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU). To qualify as a patient, you must show that you have one of the approved conditions and you’ve tried other treatments that haven’t worked. ALS, anxiety, anorexia, arthritis, cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, PTSD, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s, chronic nonmalignant pain and multiple sclerosis (MS) all qualify. After your consultation with the recommending doctor, your name and email are entered into the Medical Marijuana Use Registry. Once the application is approved, patients can use their state-issued card to purchase a modest amount at one time, around an eighth of an ounce of smokable cannabis with THC, and up to 2.5 ounces of whole flower cannabis every 35 days. Fox Tampa Bay reported that the medical cannabis industry has reported a 30 percent increase in profits since the COVID-19 social distancing guidelines were imposed, and has averaged 300 new medical cardholders a day. Dispensaries, like any other business, are finding ways to adapt to the guidelines. ALTMED, which operates 19 Florida dispensaries, has adopted a “no guests” policy, admitting only patients and requiring them to wait outside after registering with receptionists and closing the stores on Sundays “to facilitate deep cleaning and sanitizing.” ALTMED’s MüV cannabis products are available by delivery within 20 miles of the store locations. Your CBD Store, a sharply appointed boutique-like shop in Largo, offers curbside pickup and free delivery within a 10-mile radius. If It’s Good for Mom… Your CBD Store(1901 W. Bay Drive #7, Largo, 727-509-3403) isn’t just distinctive because of its good looks (or that of its co-owners, the movie star-attractive newlyweds Jessica and Chris Hargiss). The company’s transparency and product quality has earned them several industry awards, including certification by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and their lab-tested products include a QR code on the label that you can scan with your phone to find out about their laboratory test results. You cannot buy products with euphoric levels of THC at Your CBD Store. The shop emphasizes the therapeutic, not recreational, use of cannabis. One of their newest products, by Sunflora.org, offers pain relief via a roll-on for athletes. It has Lidocaine and 25 mg of CBD. “From runners to just people with joint pain, people have really liked it,” Jessica said. Free bottles of hand sanitizer are available to customers who purchase $75 or more. On the counter, a laminated chart illustrates all the ailments that can be treated with CBD, a non-euphoric but essential