Heeding a legal blueprint laid out by an appellate judge, a Tampa-based orchid grower has filed a lawsuit accusing the Florida Department of Health of violating the state Constitution by delaying the issuance of nearly two-dozen medical cannabis licenses.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Leon County circuit court, is the latest attempt by Louis Del Favero Orchids, Inc. to enter the state’s medical cannabis market. The company’s other administrative and legal challenges over the past four years have fizzled.
Del Favero’s new lawsuit follows a September ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal that sided with the Department of Health and upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a case filed by the company.
But the appeals-court decision included a concurring opinion by Judge Ross Bilbrey that called out state health officials for foot-dragging on issuing additional licenses and reneging on promises to open the license-application process after the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a key case.
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