Hey there everyone! Thanks for tuning it to the Collective for another update. As I’ve said before, the cannabis industry in Florida is starting to progress so quickly that I’m having to do these “weekly” updates two or three times a week. Perhaps the most exciting update this week is that yet another Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) will be offering flower tomorrow – 03.01.2019!
Vidacann Flower Cups Available 03.01.2019
Up until today, only three MMTCs have offered flower in Florida: Trulieve, then Curaleaf, and recently, MUV. However, some buzz about Vidacann dropping their flower pods starting circulating around late last week; this evening, Vidacann made the official announcement via their Instagram page.
Yes, I need to charge my phone more often.
To answer a few of your questions about the launch:
Price: $50/eighth across the board
Strain available at launch: Duct Tape – tested at 24.9% THC.
Strains available soon: Dutch Cookies, then Kush Cake or one of its derivatives
It will be interesting to see how Florida patients react to the quality of this flower after its release tomorrow. We don’t have Vidacann in the Panhandle yet, so you all will have to let us know how it is!
More progress in the Florida Legislature
This week saw major progress in the Florida Senate particularly, with the introduction of two new bills: one to end the current requirement of vertical integration for Florida MMTCs, and another to completely legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana like alcohol in Florida.
SB 1322 would effectively end vertical integration in Florida. For those who are unaware of the “vertical integration” term, it means that all Florida MMTCs have to cultivate, package, distribute, and sell all of their cannabis from the seed until the sale to the patient at the counter. This has resulted in ridiculously high prices; the average cost for an eighth of flower right now is somewhere around $50/eighth – much higher than black market prices. SB 1322 would allow for MMTCs to sign up to perform only one or any combination of cannabis-related business: cultivation, packaging, transportation, and retail sales of cannabis. This would open up the doors for much more competition in Florida, and bring prices down across the board. We will closely monitor this bill and its development over the next few weeks. We urge everyone to tweet at our Florida Senators and Representatives and show your support of SB 1322. We need this, and our wallets *especially* need this.
SB 1117, on the other hand, calls for the complete legalization, taxation, and regulation of cannabis for all individuals over 21 in the state of Florida. Though this bill admittedly has a low chance of gaining any traction, it is important in its symbolism of our progress and the fact that it will generate more widespread conversation about full legalization of marijuana in Florida. While this bill is unlikely to pass given that our legislature has already played the games they have played with our medical cannabis, Regulate Florida is just around 10,000 signatures shy of being granted review by the Supreme Court. This could ultimately result in recreational marijuana being on the ballot in 2020, and recent polls have shown a higher likelihood of it getting the 60% supermajority needed to pass. Be sure to head over to Regulate Florida and print off the petition and sign it/mail it in – Florida does not recognize online petitions/signatures.
Both of these bills indicate the significant progress we have made in such a short time with the Florida medical cannabis industry. We can’t stop now though – keep fighting for our rights, access, and affordability. We’re almost there!
Florida Medical Cannabis Collective Updates
We’d like to take another moment to thank all of you for your positive comments and support over the past few months as we’ve continued to grow at a rapid rate. It is very fulfilling to know that so many of you are touched and helped by the content we create here. There’s only more to come!
This week, look for reviews of Trulieve’s Lemon Tree and Poison Fruit flower. We’ll also have a review of their Sour Diesel TruCRMBL coming – we are again impressed at the quality of the crumble, and look forward to providing another review for patients who may be on the fence about trying this new cannabis concentrate.
We expect some big announcements as we close in on the March 15 deadline for the legislature to pass a law that regulates smokable cannabis flower in Florida. We’ll definitely keep our eyes peeled and our ears open to provide you all with the latest updates and product reviews related to Florida cannabis, as we have been doing since December 2018. Thank you for taking the time to read this – we truly do it for your benefit.
Be sure to join our email subscriber list to stay up-to-date with all the latest in the Florida medical cannabis industry! You can find a quick-subscribe button in the righthand column on this site.
Florida Medical Cannabis Collective 