Florida Department of Health challenged on marijuana licenses

Heeding a legal blueprint laid out by an appellate judge, a Tampa-based orchid grower has filed a lawsuit accusing the Florida Department of Health of violating the state Constitution by delaying the issuance of nearly two-dozen medical marijuana licenses.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, Oct. 31, in Leon County circuit court, is the latest attempt by Louis Del Favero Orchids, Inc. to enter the state’s medical-marijuana market. The company’s other administrative and legal challenges over the past four years have fizzled.

Del Favero’s new lawsuit follows a September ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal that sided with the Department of Health and upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a case filed by the company.

But the appeals-court decision included a concurring opinion by Judge Ross Bilbrey that called out state health officials for foot-dragging on issuing additional licenses and reneging on promises to open the license-application process after the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a key case.

Voters in 2016 passed a constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in the state. A resulting 2017 law created a framework for the industry and required the Department of Health to grant new licenses as the number of authorized patients increases.

[Read more at Ormond Beach Observer]