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CANNABIS CANNABIS
SPOTLIGHT: BUSINESS
Jillian Miller DIRECTORY
Dispensary
Manager page 37
VidaCann
page 42

September 2020

2019 Cannabis Business Award’s Publication of the Year

Hemp, CBD, Medical Marijuana

and the Pandemic Top List

of Fried’s Priorities

BY VANESSA ORR how to use industrial hemp
fibers,” she added. “There is
The state of Florida has faced a lot of challenges lately, yet also an incredibly exciting
even in the midst of hurricanes and a global pandemic, collaboration between a state
Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nicole college and a private company
“Nikki” Fried has been able to move forward on the state’s plan to utilize hemp to clean our Nicole Fried
to create a hemp cultivation program. waterways.” Brit Francis, MS, CC
“Even with the onset of COVID in our state, we’ve been able Fried believes that hemp is a viable alternative crop for many
to launch the hemp program successfully,” said Fried of the Florida farmers, especially those who have been hurt by
project that began accepting cultivation applications at the end COVID. “With so many service industry businesses shutting Chronic Pain,
of April. “We now have 506 approved applications to grow down like restaurants, schools, theme parks and cruise lines,
hemp on almost 19,000 acres. they have nowhere to sell their products,” she explained. “A lot Opioids, and
“We’ve also received six applications from organizations that of farmers started with smaller acreage to see how hemp would
want to participate in additional hemp pilot programs, which work because they were cautious about how it would grow in
include connecting to colleges or universities that have agricul- the state, and so far, they’ve seen tremendous success.” Cannabis
ture departments or pharmacy or medical schools to do research As long as the land is properly zoned and they meet licensing
on seeds, how different strains grow in different conditions, and requirements, any farmer can participate in the program. “One
BY BRIT FRANCIS, MS, CC
Continued on page 40
According to the Center for Disease
Control (CDC), approximately 50 mil-
lion Americans suffer from chronic pain.
QUESTIONS FOR MMJ DOCTORS Many of these individuals have already,
or will eventually, look to cannabis for
relief as an alternative to opioids. In fact,
across Florida alone, chronic pain is one
Wetting the toes or diving in? Questions bring forth consid- Just be clear that you fully under- of the most cited qualifying conditions
erations which bring forth answers. Whether you are already a stand that you are meeting people for Medical Marijuana cardholders.
“qualified” physician, or are considering the opportunity to to discuss consumption of a prod- Which, as of the date of this article, sur-
become one, this article will raise a few questions you should uct which many consider a mira- passes 394,000 patients.
ask yourself, and offer a few answers, as well. Our foci are cle, and some consider to be not In a recent meta-analysis study, gradu-
whether to maintain separate physical offices and whether to only illegal, but wrong. ate students at the University of Arizona’s
maintain separate companies for physicians in the cannabis College of Public Health reviewed nine
space. WHERE? This is a big one. observational studies regarding chronic
Should you run a cannabis prac- pain and cannabis. The participants in
WHO? Who are you and who are the cannabis patients who tice in the same physical space as these studies self-reported a 64-75%
will consult with you? The age. The demographics. You and your primary practice? Do you reduction in their opioid consumption
your patients. These are basic, primary considerations which open locations near dispensaries? after being introduced to legal cannabis.
any person opening a business should consider. They will cer- Ground level or discreet office? Secondly, a decrease in hospital admis-
tainly help to answer the questions of whether to maintain sep- The answer to this question likely sions and emergency room visits was also
arate physical offices and whether to maintain separate compa- depends on the answers to the BY MICHAEL J. LISS, reported.
nies for your cannabis practice. Moreover, who are you in prac- other questions, but is just as ESQ. The conclusion of this study was clear.
tice? An LLC? In a group practice or solo? An internist or a sur- important. Cannabis may allow patients to seek
geon? relief from pain without the potential risk
WHEN? Are you already running an MMJ practice or consid- of addiction and other serious side-effects
WHAT? What are you doing? What are your patients doing? ering? Where is your lease, at its inception or near its end? Are such as death from overdose, as seen in
It is important to consider that everyone has an opinion about you early in a medical career or toward the end? Timing is both prescription and non-prescription
cannabis and everyone in the cannabis field, because cannabis everything! Well, it’s at least an important consideration. opioid use.
has been illegal in this country for a century. The “what”-rec- If this and similar studies can be fur-
ommending that people purchase and consume cannabis-is WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Be honest. Are you trying to ther substantiated, the impact on the
controversial and will impose judgments upon you as a physi- educate patients? Are you trying to make extra money? Do you medical community would be instrumen-
cian, as a neighbor, as a banking customer, and the list grows. love cannabis, personally? Why are the patients coming to you, tal in changing the way society regards

Continued on page 43 Continued on page 41