вЂњThe letter constitutes the departmentвЂ™s interpretation that online ordering is a service directly related to dispensation of medical marijuana thus the letter implements the statute and prescribes policy. The statute does not address third-party websites or online ordering,вЂќ she wrote in MondayвЂ™s 25-page order. The memo вЂњdoes not merely reiterate the statute, but places a construction on the statute that is not readily apparent on its face. The February memo вЂњis a simple reiteration of the law,вЂќ she said. Laurent said during a September hearing in the case. вЂњThe department has no duty to promulgate what is clear from the statutory language,вЂќ Department of Health general counsel Louise Wilhite-St. Health officials argued that the February memo reflected the agencyвЂ™s application of the law to a particular set of facts and was not a rule. вЂњContracting with, or any other third-party website, for services directly related to dispensing is a violation of this provision,вЂќ then-Department of Health Chief of Staff Courtney Coppola wrote in the February memo. The law requires medical marijuana operators to control all aspects of the business from seed to sale - including cultivation, processing and dispensing of products - rather than allowing companies to handle individual components of the trade.

The memo said the services were prohibited under a 2017 law that set up a structure for the Florida cannabis industry. 1 memo from the Department of Health threatening to impose $5,000 fines on those who continued to rely on the services.

Until February, many of the stateвЂ™s medical marijuana operators relied on Leafly and another well-known e-commerce cannabis company, I Heart Jane, to help provide online shopping services for Florida patients.Д«ut many - if not all - operators canceled contracts with the e-commerce companies after receiving a Feb. Judge Suzanne Van Wyk didnвЂ™t go as far Monday as Leafly requested, but she found that the ban on the use of the third-party sites amounted to an unadopted rule and ordered the state agency to вЂњimmediately discontinue reliance on its policy вЂ¦ regarding online ordering of medical marijuana through third-party websites.вЂќ The company filed a petition asking an administrative law judge to find that the Florida Department of Health employed an вЂњunadopted and invalid ruleвЂќ to conclude that the online services violated the law. Leafly and similar sites will be able to resume contracting with Florida medical marijuana operators to allow patients to order products online, under a ruling issued Monday by an administrative law judge.ДЇlorida health officials this year stopped medical marijuana operators from using Leafly and other third-party sites to process patient orders, saying the arrangements violated a state law banning operators from contracting for services вЂњdirectly related to the cultivation, processing and dispensingвЂќ of cannabis.Д«ut Seattle-based Leafly Holdings argued that it is not engaging in activity related to the dispensing of cannabis products because the company does not accept payment for or distribute cannabis products to patients.

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