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The Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services has finalized its rules for how medical marijuana growers can get licensed to make and sell edibles.

Holly Bell is the director of the cannabis program for the agriculture department. She said the big concern is safety from food poisoning and allergen contagion.

“That’s our concern because a lot of times the people taking the medical marijuana have compromised immune systems, so we want to especially be diligent and make sure they’re safe,

The next step is for the Florida Department of Health to issue its rules. Baker said the health department will put out its rules in the coming weeks and will begin a public input tour.

Bell said it’s been hard to hear from patients waiting – especially those who are terminally ill.

“And they’re just looking for some relief at end of life,” Bell said. “And the process is taking so long they wonder if they will still be around to benefit from the work we’re doing.”

Several medical marijuana companies have announced partnerships with out-of-state producers of edible medical marijuana.

WMFE is a partner with Health News Florida, a statewide collaborative reporting on health care.



Health reporting on WMFE is supported in part by AdventHealth.