Florida Adds Edibles to Medical Cannabis Program

The Florida Department of Health quietly approved emergency rules on Wednesday night that establish a regulatory framework for the manufacturing and distribution of medical cannabis-infused edibles, the Miami Herald reports.

The edibles rules are reminiscent of other medical cannabis programs: products cannot be brightly-colored or made into shapes that could be considered appealing to children, they must be properly packaged, and they must not resemble any existing, commercially available candies or other products. The Health Department, which oversees Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use, will require edibles manufacturers to acquire annual food permits costing up to $650 per year.

Allowed edibles products include lozenges, gelatins, baked goods, chocolates, and drink powders.

The edibles rules have been a long time coming — Florida, which voted to legalize medical cannabis four years ago, only just allowed for smoking cannabis products last year.

Cannabis company Trulieve, which operates dozens of dispensaries around the state, said in a Thursday morning press release that the company had prepared a 10,000 square-foot commercial-grade kitchen at its production facility in Quincy for edibles manufacturing. The release also announced new partnerships with specialty edible brands Binske, Bhang, District Edibles, and Love’s Oven.

“Similar to what we saw when flower was introduced in 2019, we expect that edibles will contribute to a sizable share of overall sales.” — Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, in a press release

Ryan Scotson, the co-founder of CannaMD — a network of Florida doctors who can make medical cannabis recommendations — said Thursday morning that the company has already issued Florida’s first medical marijuana edibles certification and that they “couldn’t be more excited to finally make this route of administration available to patients.”