JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Before Florida voters approved Amendment 2, lawmakers signed off on the less powerful form of medical marijuana known as Charlotte’s Web.
Two years after its approval, the first delivery of low-THC oil was made in Jacksonville by a company hoping to one day open a local dispensary.
Knox Medical, based out of Winter Garden, Fla. made its first delivery of Charlotte’s Web in Jacksonville Tuesday to a 30-year-old veteran.
Gabriel George said the pain hasn’t stopped since a motorcycle accident in 2008.
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His right arm became paralyzed and he was medically discharged from the U.S. Navy.
George now suffers from muscle spasms.
“(It's) like I’m being tazed all day long," George said. "It never goes off. It just turns down."
He said opioids didn’t work for him, so he turned to marijuana.
Under Florida’s compassionate medical cannabis act of 2014, Knox medical is able to provide low THC medical marijuana products with a doctor’s authorization to patients with cancer, terminal illness, seizures and muscle spasms.
George's doctor said said opioids didn’t work for him, so he turned to marijuana.
His doctor Terel Newton, medical director of Total Pain Relief, said Charlotte’s Web leaves his patients with fewer side effects and better results
“A patient I spoke with this morning has been seizure free for about a month now," Newton said.
George said people who knock medical marijuana might not realize the good it can do.
“Look, observe," he said. "I’m able to be here. I’m able to talk because of it. I’m able to have some sense of life back.”
Knox Medical is planning to open five dispensaries in early 2017 throughout Florida, including Jacksonville, Orlando, Gainesville Lake Worth and Tallahassee.
The delivery of the low-THC medical marijuana comes on the same day that Florida Amendment 2 goes into effect.
The amendment that legalizes medical marijuana was approved by 71 percent of Florida voters and allows higher strength marijuana be used for a wider list of medical ailments.
Cox Media Group
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