Marco Island receives first building permit application for a medical marijuana dispensary

Columbia Care recently became the first medical marijuana dispensary to submit a building permit application to the city of Marco Island, according to Raul Perez, chief building official.

A building permit document provided by the city shows Columbia Care Florida LLC requested the Building Services Division on Oct. 1 to be allowed to improve a retail space for a company dispensary on 695 Bald Eagle Dr.

City Councilor Jared Grifoni wrote in an email to the Eagle he is happy for the patients of Marco Island.

"They have been suffering while waiting for their government to do the right thing by getting out of the doctor/patient relationship and acknowledging that free market capitalism and banning constitutionally protected products are incompatible positions," Grifoni wrote. 

"Marco Island isn't the first and won't be the last to have an unobtrusive medical dispensing facility but our patients are grateful and relieved that their medicine will soon be available in their own community."

City Councilor Larry Honig wrote he was delighted with the news.

"I am delighted that the hundreds of patients on Marco Island will be able to meet their medical needs without having to leave the city or pay excessive delivery fees," Honig wrote.

Alex Popoff, an Air Force veteran and medical marijuana activist, wrote to the Eagle he was happy that a medical marijuana treatment center (MMTC) is planning to open in Marco Island.

"I look forward to patients having increased access to medical cannabis," Popoff wrote in a text to the Eagle. "I think the fact there is only one company so far is indicative of the free market and supply and demand dictating where and when we will have MMTCs." 

Popoff is a patient care specialist at a different medical marijuana dispensary in Bonita Springs.

Columbia Care Inc. is one of the largest multi-state operators in the medical cannabis industry, with licenses in 15 jurisdictions in the U.S. and the E.U., according to the company's website.

Columbia Care has 31 dispensaries in operation or development across United States, including 10 in Florida, its website shows.

The company announced in October it added two dispensaries in Florida with the opening of its Sarasota and Jacksonville facilities, bringing its total number of dispensaries open in the state to three. Its other open Florida dispensary is in Gainesville.

Columbia Care is in process of opening dispensaries in Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Delray Beach, Orlando, Miami Pinelake, Brandon and Longwood, according to its website.

Columbia Care did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Eagle reported in June that City Council voted in favor of a resolution that provides regulations for medical marijuana dispensing facilities on the island.

More:Marco Island City Council greenlights medical marijuana dispensaries

The resolution passed 5-2, despite the nay votes of Chairperson Erik Brechnitz and councilor Howard Reed.

The approved resolution reaffirmed medical marijuana dispensing facilities are allowed within the city subject to the same regulations as pharmacies and restrictions provided in the Florida statutes.

Michelle Sullivan, a Marco Island resident, said thenthat having a medical marijuana dispensary close to home is a critical need for people like her. She suffers from multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and Chohn's disease, among other painful illnesses. 

"I think [...] people don't understand [...] this is to make people like me not to be in so much pain," Sullivan said. Sullivan, at times, had to momentarily stop talking because of her physical pain.

Kerry (Grganto) Wallace, a Marco Island resident, said at the June meeting she needs a medical marijuana treatment center close to home and that her current medical issues may be the result of the side effects of conventional medicines.

"If I (have) had access to medical marijuana before I took that prescription, I would not be attached to a machine that feeds me through my stomach right now," Wallace said while connected to a machine that feeds her nutrients in liquid form.

Doctor James J. Faremouth, a physician and Marco Island resident, said at the meeting opioids kill people and are not suitable for long-term pain management.

"I have come to realize that treating patients with compassionate medical marijuana treatment centers readily available to them would be the most beneficial," Faremouth said.

The closest open medical marijuana dispensary is in Bonita Springs, 45-minutes away from Marco Island.

In case you missed it:Ordinance to ban recreational marijuana on Marco Island dead on arrival

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How Floridians can legally acquire medical marijuana

• A qualified physician diagnoses a patient with a qualifying medical condition. If the patient is younger than 18 or terminal, a second physician must concur.
• The physician enters the patient's information and order into the Medical Marijuana Use Registry. Caregivers must also be added to the registry.
• The patient and any caregivers must then apply for a Medical Marijuana Use Registry Identification Card.
• Qualified patients may fill the physician's order at any Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC).

Source: Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), Know the Facts.

Qualifying medical conditions

• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Crohn's disease
• Parkinson's disease
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Others

Source: Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), Know the Facts.

Medical marijuana by the numbers

• 277,659: the number of qualified patients with active ID Cards in Florida.
• 2,566: the number of qualified physicians in Florida.
• 185: the number of dispensing locations in Florida.

Source: Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), Oct. 25, 2019 report.