Florida medical cannabis company sues state to remove dispensary limit

Trulieve, one of Florida’s fastest-growing medical marijuana businesses, is suing the state to allow the company to launch more dispensaries.

According to Florida Politics, Trulieve has lobbed a “constitutional challenge” at the Florida health department over how many stores it can open and where they can be located.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Trulieve’s complaint, filed in Leon Circuit civil court, says the company’s application made clear its plan to open dispensaries throughout the state, and regulators approved the permit without capping the number of stores.
• An attorney for the company, which is seeking “non-monetary declaratory or injunctive relief,” provided a copy of the complaint by George Hackney Inc., the Gadsden County nursery that does business as Trulieve.
• The implementation bill that lawmakers passed last year restricts the number of shops an MMJ company can open to 25. The cap is set to expire in 2020.
• Trulieve contends the limit is intended to suppress competition.
• The health department’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use has at least eight ongoing lawsuits.
• One suit, filed in March, would open Florida’s MMJ program to a more free-market system.