Judge’s ruling calls for two more medical-pot growers

TALLAHASSEE — An administrative law judge has called for the state to issue two new licenses to medical marijuana operators, saying competing businesses that lost out to another operator selected by health officials in 2015 were virtually tied.

The order could boost from seven to nine the number of operators licensed by the state to grow, process and distribute marijuana and derivative products to patients. Licenses have been awarded in five regions of Florida.

Administrative Law Judge John Van Laningham’s recommended order came months after a hearing in the matter and long after he decided that the winning licensee, Alpha Foliage, also known as Surterra Therapeutics, should have been ineligible to apply for a license because of changes in ownership.

On Tuesday, Van Laningham recommended that the Department of Health issue new licenses to Tornello Landscape, also known as 3 Boys Farm, and Plants of Ruskin. The two nurseries, both based in Ruskin near Tampa, challenged health officials’ decision to issue a dispensing organization license in the Southwest Florida region to Surterra.

Health officials late last year asked Van Laningham to dismiss the case, saying that 3 Boys and Plants of Ruskin had reached an agreement regarding the dispute. But after the deal went sour in early January, agency officials asked Van Laningham to reconsider the case.

The Southwest Florida challenges are rooted in a 2014 law that initially called for one license to be awarded in each region of the state for nurseries to grow, process and distribute medical marijuana. That law allowed limited types of non-euphoric cannabis for some patients and was expanded last year to allow full-strength pot for people who are terminally ill.

But the already coveted licenses are even more desirable after the passage in November of a constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana for a broad swath of patients with debilitating conditions.