An appeals court has rejected a challenge to a Florida Department of Health rule that led to dramatically increased license renewal costs for medical marijuana companies. Sanctuary Cannabis' failed challenge centered on a new state Department of Health formula that dramatically increased costs for marijuana companies.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld a 2023 decision by Administrative Law Judge William Horgan in the challenge filed by Sanctuary Cannabis.
Department of Health officials in December 2022 released a rule that created a formula for establishing a license renewal fee. The rule boosted renewal costs to about $1.3 million, more than 22 times the $60,000 biennial fee paid in the past by pot companies, which are known as medical marijuana treatment centers.
Sanctuary Cannabis filed a challenge, arguing the revamped fee was "wholly without logic or reason" because it did not take into account tens of millions of dollars from patients who pay $75 a year for identification cards to participate in the medical marijuana program.
Read more at Health News Florida