Local opinion on marijuana is a no-grow

PANAMA CITY BEACH — There just doesn’t seem to be a great deal of interest in growing marijuana in Northwest Florida.

Legally, that is.

When “compassionate cannabis” legislation passed in Florida this year, it did so with a stipulation that only nurseries in business for 30 years or more would be allowed to cultivate the non-euphoric strain of marijuana.

It also decreed that five dispensaries would be built in the state to provide the product to the people whose medical conditions gave them the right to ingest the CBD-strain.

One of the dispensaries will be located in Northwest Florida.

Apparently, Northwest Florida — at least Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties — will have to import their pot.

The owners of perhaps the only three Emerald Coast nurseries that meet the 30-years-in-business criterion to grow marijuana don’t appear interested in doing so.

“I have no desire to be included in that mess,” said Dusty Horne of Crestview Nurseries.

Don Plank, who owns Hiawatha Nursery in Navarre, and his brother, Larry Plank of nearby Plank’s Nursery, also would qualify.

But Don said he has asked just enough questions to decide he’s not really interested.

“I think the bottom line is for me it would not be very practical,” he said. “I think nurseries that do it have to make a decision to go that way entirely or decide to stay in plants entirely.”

A list of potentially qualifying nurseries provided by the state Department of Health include none in Bay County.

While the compassionate cannabis law is specific about who can grow marijuana, it is less clear about who or what qualifies as a marijuana dispenser.

Since passage of the law, but more likely in anticipation of passage of a November referendum to legalize medical marijuana, would-be dispensaries have been popping up all over the state.

The Florida Division of Corporations website lists 56 businesses across the state as having registered with the words “cannabis,” “marijuana” and “medical marijuana” in their names.

Represented among those seeking to get in on the ground floor are law firms and working stiffs from professions as diverse as insurance sales and construction contractors.

But again, Northwest Florida is underrepresented.

The only one in the Emerald Coast area with the criteria key words in its name is in Panama City Beach; the Marijuana Dispensary and Wellness Center of Northwest Florida LLC is on Thomas Drive. It currently operates as an electronic cigarette vending business.

While the region seems short on dispensary candidates, nursery owner Don Plank insisted there is business interest here. He said his company has heard from a handful of potential business partners.

Several private companies have held seminars on how to get into the medical marijuana industry in the past several months.

Bob Calkin, a representative of the Cannabis Career Institute, will be at Edgewater Beach Resort in Panama City Beach from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 2 for a workshop on medical marijuana dispensaries. The course will be taught by four professionals in the medical marijuana industry. People interested in attending this seminar can visit CannabisCareerInstitute.com or call (800) 753-2240. Space is limited.

WANT TO GO?

Who: Bob Calkin of the Cannabis Career Institute

What: Workshop on medical marijuana dispensaries

When: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 2 

Where: Edgewater Beach Resort in Panama City Beach

Details: CannabisCareerInstitute.com or call (800) 753-2240