VIERA, Fla. – Brevard County commissioners on Tuesday heard from a local pharmacist who likes the idea of opening medical marijuana dispensaries for sick children in Brevard County.
Dr. Eric Luzar, of Satellite Beach, says Merritt Island and Palm Bay are perfect locations for medical marijuana dispensaries because of how close they are to bigger cities like Orlando and Palm Bay.
Luzar started Sunrise Compassionate Care, a group that believes cities and counties should require pharmacists to oversee the dispensing of Charlotte's Web - a weaker, liquid form of medical marijuana.
"It's a non-euphoric strain of medical marijuana. There's no drug addict that wants to get a hold of it. It's like drinking an O'Douls," said Luzar.
He brought his ideas Tuesday to Brevard County commissioners in hopes of getting a discussion going on ways to zone dispensaries in the county.
"I'm hoping that if the state refuses to mandate that pharmacists dispense medical marijuana, that the county will take that under consideration," said Luzar.
He says right now the state's focus is on regulating the growth and testing of Charlotte's Web and not who dispenses it.
He worries that if a licensed health care provider isn't the person writing prescriptions, people, including children, could get the wrong strain of medical marijuana.
"You go into a dispensary to pick up the product for your child and the person that's not trained in dispensing and gives them a high THC product and the child has a seizure and dies. That's a concern," said Luzar.
Commissioners decided to take action when it was all said and done. They directed staff to look at other municipalities around the state who have ordinances in place regulating medical marijuana.