TALLAHASSEE - Surterra, one of the state’s largest medical marijuana treatment centers, has been forced to stop processing cannabis—halting its production of new items—after it failed to meet a food safety inspection deadline in a little-noticed provision of state law last week.
The requirement, which mandates that medical marijuana treatment centers complete third-party inspections in the first year to ensure “good manufacturing practices,” caught several businesses by surprise earlier this month when the Department of Health indicated that it was enforcing the provision in letters sent out July 6.
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Surterra, which was one of the first businesses in the state allowed to dispense medical marijuana, operates eight locations across in the state and the only physical dispensaries in Miami Beach, North Port, Largo and Deltona. Its reach is outpaced only by Trulieve, which has dispensaries in 15 cities.
The company said it is in the process of completing the required inspections but did not respond to questions on the record about how much product it has stockpiled for use while its processing operations are on hold. It expects its certification process to be completed in the next several weeks.
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