Florida’s first medical cannabis dispensary has been scheduled to open next week, after two years since it was approved by the state lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott.

The Florida Department of Health gave Trulieve, a North Florida grower and dispensary, the permission to open in Tallahassee and delivering cannabis statewide on Tuesday .

When Trulieve opens on Tuesday, it will be the first time strains of the drug will be available under a 2014 law, that meant to give patients with cancer and seizures access to a strain of medical marijuana low in THC.

Five additional nurseries have grown and they have been extracting oil from cannabis, according to DOH, and they wood join Trulieve in legally selling medical marijuana.

For parents like Donna Perez of Sebring, this news gave some relief. Perez’s 3 years old son, Noah, has been suffering from intractable epilepsy and severe seizures. She spends all day by Noah’s side taking care of him to making sure he takes six medications properly.

Perez said, “Maybe he can function for a day or not have seizures for a day or not choke. Even if it doesn’t work it would be worth a try.” Many children patients have been waiting as legal challenges and state regulations had delayed the drug’s release.

according to  Moriah Barnhart of Tampa, who founded the organization CannaMoms two years ago, it has forced many to find other, often illegal, sources for the drug, She said, “We’re spending all night watching our children to make sure they’re still alive and at the same time watching out the window to make sure we’re not being raided by cops”

The state’s first dispensary would be a huge symbolic victory. To access the drug legally under the new program, patients will have to take approval from a  doctor who has passed a medical cannabis course. Trulieve has planned to open additional dispensaries outside Tallahassee.

By Prakriti Neogi