A bill that would allow for stronger varieties of pot as medical marijuana in Florida unanimously cleared its second Senate review panel.

The Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice OK’d the measure (SB 460) on Thursday.

State Sen. Rob Bradley, the Fleming Island Republican behind the bill, said it was aimed at allowing stronger but still non-smokeable marijuana for terminally ill patients. It would be made into an infused oil to ingest.

A Florida-based personal equity management firm with a concentrate on cannabis has announced that it’s branching off.

First Harvest Financial, which has its headquarters in Tampa, is opening workplaces in Chicago and in Boca Raton, to help it assist in more investment in medical marijuana companies across the nation.

“The company’s new offices in Chicago and Boca Raton enhance the company’s reach to connect legal cannabis business seeking development capital to recognized investors,” First Harvest said in a statement released online.

TAMPA, Fla.--As Neutra Corp. (OTCQB: NTRR) continues working to deliver safer, better solutions for cultivators across North America, cannabis businesses and state agencies are still grappling with the use of potentially harmful pesticides in the nascent industry. A recent independent study found dangerous levels of pesticides in cannabis products in Denver.

“Recalls are bad for the entire industry”

BOCA RATON, Fla. —Now that the state of Florida has chosen five nurseries to begin growing and distributing a weak form of marijuana, patients are counting the days until they can use it.

Joey Jones, of Boca Raton, just underwent his second surgery for brain cancer. His surgeries were in California were he said he used medical marijuana to ease his pain and help his appetite.

"It's also controlled my seizures, too, which is a huge part," Jones said. "I only had one seizure which revealed my tumor and I haven't had any seizures since."

Jones recently moved to Florida so his family can help him recover.

A Senate panel this week will take up a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana, as lawmakers continue to grapple with whether to go beyond a 2014 law that approved a limited form of cannabis.

MIAMI(CBSMiami/ NSF) — A Senate panel is taking up a bill this week that would allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana.

All this as lawmakers continue to grapple with whether to go beyond a 2014 law that approved a limited form of cannabis.

The Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled Thursday to take up the bill (SB 460), sponsored by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, that would allow marijuana for patients with terminal conditions.

A similar House bill (HB 307), sponsored by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, and Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, has been approved by one House panel and is pending in the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee.

George Hackney Sr. finally received the call he had been waiting for. The Florida Department of Health told him on Monday, Hackney Nursery will join four other Florida nurseries in producing medicinal marijuana for the state.

It has been a long journey since spring of 2014, when Gov. Rick Scott signed off on the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act. The legislation divided the state into five regions with one license each to cultivate low-THC marijuana and process its oil into medicine to treat children afflicted with a severe form of epilepsy and cancer patients.

Will Florida, the nation’s third most populated state, catch up with the 23 other states that have made it legal for patients to buy, possess and use marijuana as medicine?

The answer is a positive maybe.

Keith, 80, and Jeanne Shell of Bradenton signed a petition in September petition supporting an amendment to legalize recreational marijuana. The “Floridians for Freedom” effort seems to be a long shot as a February deadline for signatures draws near. STAFF PHOTO / THOMAS BENDER

The United for Care medical marijuana advocacy group is poised to take a second stab at a constitutional amendment in the presidential election cycle of 2016.

Whether in response to that or on their own, several Republican legislators have put forward their own proposals.

TAMPA — With its website promoting stories or videos such as "Did William Shakespeare smoke cannabis?" and "Wholesale cannabis prices sky high in Colorado," Cannavoices was supposed to be a hip look at the legal marijuana industry.

The Tampa company, which produces magazine, which focuses primarily on medical marijuana, launched with a party at the Station House restaurant in St. Petersburg during the summer.

Just four months later, the players who created Cannavoices are ensnared in a legal battle over control of a fledgling company now mired in competing claims about the misuse of corporate assets. The magazinehas published just one issue, and postings on the main page of the website, cannavoices, have not been updated since August.

TALLAHASSEE -- Calling the state's issuance of five medical marijuana cultivation licenses inadequate, advocates for patients and nurseries are redoubling their efforts to expand the list of ailments that qualify for treatment with low-potency marijuana.

A non-euphoric strain of marijuana popularly known as 'Charlotte's Web' has been found to effectively treat patients suffering from a severe form of epilepsy. Last year, the Florida Legislature legalized the use of the strain by those patients, as well as people diagnosed with cancer.