§ 14-167. The application period and scoring and review of applications.

(a)

The initial application period shall commence on January 3, 2017 and shall close on January 31, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. Subsequent application periods shall commence upon certification by the committee that additional certificates of approval are available and shall close thirty (30) days after such certification.

(b)

Each applicant shall submit an application in a format sufficient to provide the committee with all relevant information necessary to review, evaluate, score, rank and recommend approval or denial of the application. The members of the committee shall score and review each application pursuant to the criteria, and 100-point scale, detailed below. Members and applicants may discuss their application at any time during the application process. Each application will be independently scored by committee members.

(1)

Previous dispensing experience in a regulated market in any state: 30 points

Number of different dispensaries operated.

Number of years of operating dispensaries.

Documented hiring practices.

Number of different cannabis strains and derivative products sold.

Dispensing licenses held in different states.

Previous infractions resulting in the revocation of any cannabis license.

Previous citations/notices of non-compliance with licensing requirements in any state.

Experience with maintaining chain of custody and tracking mechanisms.

(2)

Technical ability: 25 points

Review of standard operating procedures, operating manuals, policies, training modules, and procedures.

Training process.

Comprehensive ordering system.

Ability to fulfill prescriptions in a timely manner.

Product delivery system to the medical marijuana treatment center.

System for tracking fulfillment of prescriptions to patients.

(3)

Qualifications of security team: 15 points

Years of security experience with cannabis dispensaries in a regulated cannabis market.

Integration of security procedures and training into your vertically integrated operations.

All owners, investors, managers, and security employees located within Osceola County have successfully passed a Level 2 background check and have not been convicted of any felonies involving fraud, false representation, or distribution of cannabis.

Description of the security plan for the medical marijuana treatment center.

(4)

Qualifications of medical director: 30 points

Licensed in the State of Florida as a physician or pharmacist.

Education and training in related field.

Licensed medical director in another state.

Previous experience as medical director for similar businesses.

Experience with identifying and knowledge of substance abuse.

Experience with epileptic patients.

Experience with cancer patients.

Experience with patients with severe seizures or muscle spasms.

Experience with terminal patients.

Experience in recognition of signs and symptoms of substance abuse, including tolerancy, dependency and withdrawal.

Knowledge of the use of medical cannabis for treatment of cancer or physical medical conditions that chronically produce symptoms of seizures or severe and persistent muscle spasms.

Knowledge of analytical and organic chemistry.

Knowledge of analytical laboratory methods.

Knowledge of medical cannabis, including CBD/low-THC routes of administration.

Experience in or knowledge of clinical trials or observational studies.

Knowledge of, and experience with, producing CBD/low-THC products.

Experience with or knowledge of botanical medicines.

Experience with dispensing medications.

(c)

Applications shall contain evidence of compliance with this article, the Compassionate Use Act, or any other applicable law, and the committee shall reject any application which does not meet such requirement. Rejected applications shall not be scored. The committee and county manager or designee shall also disqualify any application that contains any false or misleading information.

(d)

The scores awarded by the members of the committee for each applicant shall be totaled and averaged for each applicant. The applicants shall then be ranked from highest to lowest based on the average scores awarded, with certificates of approval recommended for the highest scoring applicant, and proceeding to the next highest scored applicant until all certificates of approval authorized pursuant to this article have been recommended. In the event of a tie in the rankings, the committee shall by majority vote break the tie.

(e)

Appeal from the board of county commissioners' award decision shall be filed with the Ninth Circuit Court, in and for Osceola County, via petition for writ of certiorari. Said appeal shall be filed within thirty (30) days from the final determination on the award of certificates of approval by the board of county commissioners.

(Ord. No. 2016-97, § 1, 10-17-16)