Eric HoppesJust days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially signed the repeal to the medical marijuana smoking ban, the largest Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) in the state, Trulieve, becomes the first to complete a smokable flower sale, fittingly at their Tallahassee location.
Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers earlier this week had commented, “We stand ready to meet the needs of patients whose doctors order smokable products and … Trulieve looks forward to selling safe smokable flower to our patients.”
She held true to her word as early this morning as Douglas Dixon, a patient who has replaced 15 prescriptions with medical cannabis, made the historic purchase.
As Rivers addressed the room of patients, advocates, and press who had gathered to witness the monumental event she began by saying:
“First thank you to the people of Florida, I think its appropriate to start there, who overwhelmingly voted for access to medical marijuana, thank you to the legislature for moving quickly on ensuring that patients in Florida will have access to medical marijuana in smokable form, thank you to our Governor Ron DeSantis, who has stepped up and continues to lean in to this issue and is committed to fulfilling the constitutional amendment, and thank you to the Department of Health, and Director Courtney Coppola who have worked around the clock to write guidance for physicians and to provide comments to MMTC’s for products so that today could be possible, and thank you to our Agricultural Commissioner, Nikki Fried, who continues to bring the need for patient access to the forefront in Florida.”
TruFlower, the smokable product being offered by Trulieve, will be available at all of their locations including their newest and 25th dispensary just opened in Melbourne, FL.
The doctor responsible for the first smokable marijuana recommendation was Tallahassee-based physician Dr. Cheryl Fee, who commented, “It’s an honor to be a part of the first sale and provide patients that need this smokable whole-flower option.”
Many patients and advocates swear by the entourage effect obtained by smoking whole-flower cannabis. There are certain parts of the plant, cannabinoids and terpenes, that can be lost during the extraction process to create concentrates (i.e. dabs, shatter, oil, wax, etc.) and those essential components can often be what the patients need to experience true relief and any medicinal property from the treatment. Every patient is different, and that is why the Florida Department of Health has established guidelines for patients and physicians to see if this course of treatment is right for them.
Trulieve is currently the largest MMTC in Florida employing over 1,500 associates and operating a continually increasing number of dispensary locations, two of which opened just this week.
CannaChronicle is privileged to know another noted CannaWarrior and advocate in Florida, Eli Joyce of Sunshine Cannabis and Regulate Florida (the political advocacy group pushing for adult-use, or recreational, regulation in Florida), who made the first whole-flower cannabis purchase at the Trulieve location in North Fort Myers.
Eli Joyce pictured with Trulieve manager Scott and associate Chase at the Trulieve North Fort Myers location
“This is a groundbreaking day for Florida, this is what the voters wanted with Amendment 2 and to see the advocates and patients finally get what they have been looking for, it feels great,” commented Joyce.
Eli was able to meet with his doctor and get a new recommendation signed allowing it to be added to his prescription. He notes that it is imperative that before you attempt to purchase whole-flower cannabis you meet with your doctor to get the new release form signed so that you do not run into any obstacles at the dispensary!
The week is not over yet and huge developments in the Florida Cannabis landscape have already taken place. People around the state are excited to see the continued growth of our cannabis industry and are curious as to what may develop next.
If you still think that Floridians shouldn’t need a Medical Recommendation to consume cannabis responsibly, please sign the Regulate Florida petition aimed at bringing responsible adult-use cannabis to Florida HERE
