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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 the state.
Administrative Law Judge John Van L an ingham’ 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.
Under every scenario envisioned thus far, the current license holders will automatically be eligible to grow and sell pot products for an exponentially larger patient base in Florida, which experts predict could quickly become one of the nation’s biggest markets.
Lawmakers failed to approve legislation to carry out the constitutional amendment during the session that ended earlier this month, possibly bolstering Van Laningham’s recommended order, which under administrative law will have to go back to the department for final action.
The judge reiterated his critique of the health department’s methodology to cull the applications, writing that the officials “did not score them,” as required by the agency’s own rule, but instead “merely ranked them,” which he said led to a faulty outcome.
Whether the agency will issue two new licenses is questionable; state officials have maintained in the past that current state law restricts the Department of Health to granting only one new license in each of the state’s five regions, based on administrative or court rulings.