A BIG INVESTMENT — Pictured is the Cookies cultivation facility in DeLand’s industrial business park.
Technicalities and legal gray areas mean there are already places in DeLand to buy goods that get you high, but, following a Jan. 17 decision by the DeLand City Commission, government-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries can now open within the city limits.
While many companies — and patients, too — could stand to benefit from the rule change, one big proponent of the change was Cookies, a multi-state medical marijuana operation that already has a large cultivation facility in DeLand. When a Cookies representative came to the City Commission asking to be able to set up shop in DeLand where they’re already growing cannabis, city staff got the ball rolling to eliminate its existing prohibition on dispensaries.
The change in policy will allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate wherever pharmacies are allowed within DeLand’s city limits. In addition, the new policies clarify that medical marijuana processing and cultivation facilities can be built wherever certain industrial operations are allowed.
The rules were approved unanimously by the City Commission.