As Florida voters weigh their decision to create a state-regulated medical marijuana industry, an obvious question emerges: Where do doctors stand on pot?

The answer is complicated. The medical establishment dismisses weed as scientifically untested, but some individual doctors are breaking ranks to back Amendment 2, the ballot question that will be decided Nov. 8.

The 20,000-member Florida Medical Association opposes Amendment 2. Prescription drugs are approved only after they’re tested in clinical trials featuring thousands of patients, and the organization notes there’s no such proof that cannabis is an effective treatment.

“There is nothing medical about this proposal,” said Tim Stapleton, chief executive of the Florida Medical Association.

Not all physicians agree. Some, like Dr. Kathryn Villano of Miami, support Amendment 2. She said weed can be an effective pain treatment that’s far gentler than the addictive opioids often prescribed by doctors.

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This article originally appeared in the July/August print edition of Cannabis Business Times. To subscribe, click here.

Myriad reports published during the last year have pointed to the energy-intensive nature of indoor cultivation operations. Simultaneously, legal cannabis markets have experienced falling prices. For commercial cultivators — the majority of whom grow indoors — declining prices means shrinking margins and a necessary emphasis on efficiency. To ameliorate the high costs of indoor gardening and falling market prices, many businesses are seeking to establish new operations or convert existing ones to greenhouse or outdoor models — logical solutions, since economic factors will eventually dictate that cannabis be produced just like virtually every other agricultural commodity (not indoors). Converting to more traditional, large-scale agricultural models, however, takes careful planning and deliberate strategies.

If you are considering cultivation approaches that rely primarily on natural light, this column will help guide you. As the challenges and costs are unique to your business's geography, there is no universal solution; but the considerations and questions that must be addressed would apply to anyone considering a change in cultivation model.

To read the full article in our July/August edition, click here.

A second company has asked to join the lawsuit against the Maryland Cannabis Commission, alleging that it too was unfairly denied a lucrative license to grow medical marijuana.

Maryland Cultivation and Processing filed paperwork Wednesday to jointly sue the state commission with GTI Maryland.

While the two companies were ranked initially among the 15 top applicants for licenses to grow the drug, they were later excluded so the commission could instead grant preliminary licenses to two lower-ranked companies in Southern and Southeastern Maryland. Only the top 15 received approval for preliminary licenses.

The commission said it was following state law that required it to consider geographic diversity among winners.

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An effort to allow veterans to access medical marijuana in states where it’s legal died Wednesday night when Congress passed a spending bill without the provision included.

The Veterans Equal Access Amendment would have nullified a Department of Veterans Affairs standard that keeps its doctors from recommending medical cannabis as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, pain and other conditions experienced by veterans. Veterans currently seeking medical pot must obtain a doctor’s recommendation outside of the VA system and pay the expense out of pocket.

The amendment, authored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), passed both chambers of Congress earlier this year as part of a spending package funding the Veterans Affairs department.

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