February 2019 is almost halfway gone, meaning that we are almost 66% through the first quarter of 2019 already. The good news is that our medical cannabis program in Florida is continuing to expand with new product offerings. The bad news is that the Florida Legislature is trying to create more issues for patients who wish to smoke their cannabis. We’ve got a mixed bag of news in this week’s update.

GrowHealthy released more strains in vape carts and distillate syringes

Earlier this week, GrowHealthy announced via their Instagram page that there are now several new strains available, some for only a limited time. They are:

Sativa: Sour Tangie and 99 Problems

Indica: Alien Bubba Berry

All these strains are processed with cannabis-derived terpenes, meaning that they are injected with the exact terpenes in the exact ratios found in the respective flower strains.

These products can be found on GrowHealthy’s product page on their website. Here is a quick link to the page

Trulieve released Indica Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) and a new flower strain

Until this week, Trulieve has only had hybrid RSO available. (For more information on RSO and its benefits, click here.) However, Trulieve now offers RSO in indica varieties as well – currently Zkittlez is the only strain available; you can order it here.

Trulieve also rolled out yet another new flower strain this past week well- a hybrid strain called Gilz Nilz. We reviewed this strain recently; you can find the review here. It is a sativa-dominant hybrid with strong stimulating cerebral effects.

Vidacann will soon release their distillate with cannabis-derived terpenes

Vidacann has announced via their Instagram page that their distillate syringe product is very close to completion and release. We detailed this announcement in another post last week; so far, 3 strains have been announced for this product: Strawberry Cough, OG Kush, and Pakistani Chitral Kush. This will offer even more “entourage effect” (two or more cannabinoids working together) options for Florida patients; this is a great thing, as most patients prefer options with more than one cannabinoid for optimum relief of their symptoms.

The Florida Legislature continues to attempt to create hurdles for patients

As we detailed in updates earlier this year, Florida Governor Ron Desantis has given the Florida legislature until mid-March to correct the current medical cannabis law to address smoking of cannabis. The legislature, unfortunately, is playing their usual game of creating ways to milk every dollar out of sick and suffering Floridians. The newest shenanigans of the primarily Republican legislature call for patients to have to visit another doctor to testify that smoking is the best method for the patient to intake cannabis. There are also provisions that require patients to be “reviewed” by a panel on a case-by-case basis for smoking their cannabis.

Needless to say, the developments have drawn outrage from all interests of the Florida cannabis market, and speculation is rife on how exactly Ron Desantis will respond to these initiatives from the legislature. We hope this atrocious law will not be accepted, but we are anxiously awaiting to see how events transpire between now and March 2019.

Altmed (MUV) flower pods have been well-received

The first ten days of Altmed’s flower sales have passed, and Reddit posts suggest that the flower is of the highest quality in the Florida medical cannabis industry. THC levels have been reported from 16% all the way up to 29%, with all strains priced at $55/eighth. The introduction of a third competitor in the Florida cannabis flower market (Trulieve and Curaleaf are the other two) will be interesting to watch as Altmed/MUV opens more dispensaries and expands their delivery area this year.

Closing Thoughts

The fact that more products are becoming available is promising, but the audacity of the Florida legislature to continue to play games with the quality of life of so many patients, is discouraging. Hopefully, Governor Ron Desantis will stick to his word of having a Florida cannabis law that the patients feel is exactly what they voted for in 2016. In the mean time, we will continue to try more products as they become available, and provide you all with the latest updates and product reviews in the program. One thing is for certain: it’s going to be a long month until mid-March, when we find out just how the “smoking ban” of cannabis in Florida will ultimately be addressed. We hope that the will of the people will prevail, and will do everything we can to help ensure that happens.

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