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North Florida Dispensary Set to Open in January

Gainesville Dispensary

In January, CHT Medical will open its dispensary in Alachua County, home to Gainesville. CHT Medical is a subsidiary company of Chestnut Hill Tree Farm. The Florida DOH’s Office of Compassionate Use authorized the company to dispense and process medical marijuana.

Florida has approved licensing for six dispensaries, according to The Gainesville Sun. The licenses include permission to cultivate and process marijuana. Two more license approvals are expected in Florida soon.

Doctors can start prescribing patients medical marijuana in January 2017.

CEO of CHT, Robert Wallace said, “Our mission is to bring revolutionary new products, science and research to this important new field of medicine, and make it available to patients and physicians in the State of Florida. Patients have found the use of medical cannabis to alleviate certain conditions associated with epilepsy, cancer, chronic pain, opiate abuse, PTSD, and many other conditions and illnesses.”

Alachua County will only see two dispensaries opening for now. Joining CHT Medical will be Green Solution, operated by San Felasco Nurseries. Gainesville gave zoning approval to Knox Nursery for a third dispensary.

As more dispensaries are needed and approved for operation, policy will be the deciding factor in terms of how many dispensary licenses are granted. Dispensaries have to be 750-ft away from schools, 500-ft from other dispensaries and at least 300-ft from religious establishments. The operating hours are 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. only.

As of now, there are only 3 doctors in Alachua County that have proper certification to prescribe medical marijuana, as the state requires a training course.

Dr. Brent Stewart, a pain management specialist, said, “Pain is best treated when you can modulate a variety of receptors. We really are just beginning to scratch the surface of this therapy.”