Jax Council repeals medical marijuana moratorium

It didn’t take long for Jacksonville’s City Council to say they acted too hastily in passing a six month moratorium on growing, processing, and distributing a low-THC strain of medical marijuana.

In fact, just two weeks after the bill was passed- without going through the normal channels- it has been repealed, with only Councilman Richard Clark and Councilman Don Redman wanting to keep the ban in place. But that doesn’t mean it’s open season either, there’s a new moratorium that’s been introduced.

The primary reason so many on the Council wanted to backtrack is because of the outcry they’ve heard in the past two weeks about the action, which came with little warning and bypassed typical Council scrutiny.

“We got lots of emails from people who were concerned that we were trying to preclude people from having access. I don’t think that was our intent,” says Councilwoman Lori Boyer.

This new moratorium, which was introduced at the Council meeting Tuesday night, but won’t see a vote until at least August, already begins to more specifically tailor that intent.

The low-THC strain of marijuana, known as "Charlotte's Web", is legal in Florida as of the 2014 legislative session, although the state has spent the past year struggling to figure out how to actually roll out the drug. It's a non-euphoric strain that is said to give some relief to certain severe illnesses, like children suffering a certain seizure disorder. This is different from medical marijuana, overall, which did not get the needed votes last November to be legalized by voters.

This new proposed moratorium, which is sponsored by Councilman Bill Gulliford, would ban cultivating Charlotte’s Web in any non-agriculturally zoned property for 120 days after passing. It also restricts dispensing the drug, although more information on that is not readily available because the bill text has not yet been posted through the City’s website. This more narrow time frame actually came at the recommendation of Boyer, who says that should be sufficient time to let the City figure out what restrictions they want to permanently place on growing, processing, and distributing the drug.

According to David Loop- who is the President of Loop’s Nursery & Greenhouses and is applying to be a Charlotte’s Web cultivator and distributor for the region- there are five eligible operations to serve the nine county Northeast Florida region defined by the state. Two of those are in Duval County, three are in Alachua. The application deadline is next month, so it’s unclear right now how many of those nurseries intend to compete for the license.

Loop seemed to have no issue with the proposal at this time, but couldn’t speak to whether the other nursery would take issue with the agriculture zoning restriction.

“We did a disservice two weeks ago by not having public comment or debate on this subject, and I feel like we’ve taken people off the playing field who could participate in this opportunity, and I don’t want to preclude anybody tonight by doing anything that may cause injury to the other party that’s qualified to submit an application,” says Councilman John Crescimbeni.

With the bill now going through several public hearings, that’s likely an issue that will get further discussion.

As for whether having a pending moratorium altogether could influence Loop or the other eligible applicant’s bid with the state, Loop said it wasn’t clear if that would be an issue. Boyer hoped that by giving a clear picture of where the debate is heading, the City would be able to show a willingness to work out what’s best overall.

So the bottom line is, there is no ban of any kind right now on growing, processing, or manufacturing this specific Charlotte’s Web variety of legal medical marijuana in Jacksonville. In a couple of weeks, a temporary stay may be put on distribution, but limited cultivation would be allowed to move forward.

Pool says the company awarded the license has to begin cultivation within 75 days, and must begin distributing within 210 days of getting the license. He adds the time needed to get the first batch of the drug ready is 12 to 14 weeks. Even with the scrutiny on the new moratorium just beginning, that should provide enough time for Jacksonville to decide its limits.