Here’s where the biz of medical marijuana may grow next

Matthew Richardson

Another Central Florida area may join others planning for medical marijuana dispensaries.

Brevard County Commissioners will discuss options for an ordinance to regulate the location of medical marijuana during its board meeting Nov. 3 at 5 p.m.

Brevard County will discuss medical marijuana dispensaries regulation.

Anthony Bolante

While the discussion is not to approve an ordinance, commissioners will discuss several options on how the county will move forward regarding the development of the ordinance.

Commissioners will consider four options, as described in county documents:

• Option 1: Standard land use regulation: Regulate a medical marijuana dispensary as if it were a pharmacy, permitting wherever a pharmacy is permitted. This would result in locations in any commercial classification including neighborhood commercial.

• Option 2: Enhanced location standards: Establish distance requirements from residential and other sensitive land uses and/or limit zoning classifications and/or industrial classifications.

• Option 3: Regulation of operational issues: In addition to those regulations established in option 2, expand regulation to include issues that are not traditionally land use issues, such as hours of operation, site plan issues such as parking and/or prohibitions against loitering and onsite use.

• Option 4: No further regulation: Because medical marijuana is regulated at the state level, but is not specifically mentioned in county code, current Brevard County regulation would treat it simply as a retail use. It would have to meet all state licensing requirements, which the county could choose to monitor.

Medical marijuana is a hot topic in Florida right now as the state is on the cusp of approving a wider scope of its use, and doing so could open up a major medical marijuana market estimated at $785 million-$1.26 billion. In 2014, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act that permitted low THC cannabis called Charlotte's Web for use by qualified patients.

The drug is said to help with various forms symptoms from cancer, chronic seizures, epilepsy and muscle spasms.

The Florida Medical Marijuana Legalization initiative, also known as Amendment 2, will be on ballot. If approved, it will expand the scope of medical marijuana use beyond the small strand in Charlotte's Web. This decision also could impact local ordinances allowing dispensaries.

Orlando already has approved two dispensaries to open in the city and Casselberry and Altamonte Springs also have ordinances in place, but no dispensaries have arrived yet.

One dispensary in Orlando is already hard at work with one location and may plan for more.