It’s been more than a year since Florida voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana.
On Tuesday, Palm Beach County is set for another major milestone, as the first medical marijuana dispensary opens its doors.
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Knox Medical will be located on the corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway in Lake Worth, right across from city hall.
Dr. Javed Mohammed is one of almost 1,100 doctors in Florida certified to recommend medical marijuana.
“A dispensary here, close by in the neighborhood ... they can just go by there and get their product,” he says.
Mohammed said while anticipation for Knox is high, there are a few misconceptions.
First off, the facility won’t offer smokeable marijuana, meaning you won’t be able to buy the leafy green buds commonly associated with weed.
“They can be in the form of oils or they can be vapors or they can be edible,” he says.
Before you even get to the point of purchasing it, you have to visit a certified doctor.
Folks with cancer, AIDS, Crohn’s, are among those eligible.
“The doctor has to perform a full patient physical and go through the old records and make sure they have tried all the conventional methods of treatment,” Dr. Mohammed says.
That doctors consultation can cost around $200.
If the doctor then gives that recommendation, he says the patient can proceed.
“They fill out an application with a fee and then it takes about 45 days and they get informed that they are approved,” he says. “Once they get approved they get a card.”
That card costs another $75.
Javed says in his medical opinion, the time and money investment are well worth it for those who truly need it.
“To me it’s a miracle drug… It does wonders.”
The Department of Health tells NewsChannel 5 almost 51,000 patients have qualified for medical marijuana so far.
We reached out to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to get their thoughts on the dispensary from a security aspect.
A spokesperson tells us they don’t plan on doing anything in the way of extra patrols.
However, they say Knox Medical is close to a sheriff’s office substation in the city, which means there will already be a large deputy presence in the neighborhood.
