Florida is rapidly shaping up as a test case in whether the term medical marijuana necessarily includes actual herbaceous cannabis. On May 15, the states Health Department ordered Quincy-based Trulieve dispenary to stop selling a whole flower productofficially intended for use in vaporizers, but which can, of course, also be smoked. Trulieve just last week began sales of a product dubbed Entourage,named for the so-called entourage effect, the synergistic workings of the various compounds in the cannabis flower. The product is meant to be used in the Volcano vaporizer, reports theOrlando Weekly. The Health Departments cease-and-desist letter came after local media reports about the sales of Entourage.
Licensed dispensing organizations have a responsibility to ensure their product is not one that can easily be transitioned into a smokable form. Therefore, whole flower products are not permitted, state Office of Compassionate Use director Christian Bax wrote in the letter to Trulieve.
Current Florida law bans smoking of medical marijuana but allows use of vaporizers. The Entourage product comes in vaporizer cups, but the cannabis inside can be removed with minimal effort, according to the cease-and-desist letter.
Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers responded with a statement saying the company was surprised by the letter but is immediately and completely complying with the departments wishes while evaluating our options.
The Health Department action comes as Floridas legislature is considering enabling legislation on last years victorious medical marijuana initiative, Amendment 2. A current version of the law would ban ...
