Florida's Dept. of Health approves 5 nurseries to grow medical marijuana

The Florida Department of Health has approved licenses for 5 nurseries in the state to grow and distribute special breeds of medical marijuana to treat patients with severe epilepsy and advanced stages of cancer.

For the state’s southeast region, Costa Nursery Farm won the bid to serve the South Florida area.

The state’s Department of Health chose the five from a list of 28 nurseries that had applied in July for the potentially lucrative licenses to provide Charlotte’s Web, a form of marijuana oil.

The product is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — which gives marijuana its psychoactive quality — but high in cannabadiol, or CBD, which research shows eases convulsions, inflammation, anxiety and nausea for cancer patients and those suffering from severe epilepsy.