Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers describes how Florida's largest fully licensed medical marijuana company is faring amid the cannabis craze. Rivers tells CNBC's Jim Cramer that Trulieve is "seeing a huge transition" from opioids to medical cannabis

Florida patients with serious conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder are increasingly opting for medical cannabis over opioids, the CEO of the state's first and largest fully licensed medical marijuana company told CNBC on Monday.

In what could be another delay for Florida’s burgeoning medical-marijuana industry, a Tallahassee judge agreed Wednesday to block state health officials from moving forward with the application process for highly sought-after medical marijuana licenses.

Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson’s verbal order during a hearing came nearly two months after he found that a state law, passed during a special legislative session last year, runs afoul of a constitutional amendment broadly legalizing medical marijuana.

In August, Dodson ruled that a cap on the number of medical marijuana operators included in the law “directly contradicts” the amendment, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2016.

Nearly two years after Florida voters approved the use of medical marijuana, Tallahassee needs to implement the policy more effectively, but state officials should not take the extra step of legalizing the drug completely.

As the values of medical-marijuana operations skyrocket, wrangling over Florida’s limited number of pot licenses continues to escalate. Five wannabe operators who got shut out of the state’s first round of medical-marijuana licenses three years ago and recently were shot down a second time are asking a judge for help.

But first, Administrative Law Judge G.W. Chisenhall has to settle an even more basic argument: How many licenses are up for grabs?

Florida Department of Health officials maintain only two licenses are available under a 2017 law aimed at implementing a voter-approved constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana. The 2017 law was also intended to curb litigation related to the highly sought-after licenses.

Officials are urging locals to report the incidents. 

For frequent beachgoers, there’s nothing like finding buried treasure along the shoreline. But it doesn’t always have to be buried to be considered treasure.

According to the St. John’s County Sheriff department, packages of cannabis have been washing up on the Florida shore. But as enticing as 30-pounds of herb might sound, deputies are urging citizens to refrain from bringing the loot home.

Fort Lauderdale officials decided this week to uphold a city ordinance that limits the number of medical marijuana dispensaries allowed to open in the city - despite a state lawthat says it does not have that power.

Florida voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in 2016.

Currently, the four dispensaries that are trying to set up shop in Ft. Lauderdale have applied to open in the same part of the city, the Northeast political district.

One of the first rules of operating a successful black market drug dealing operation is to never get high on your own supply. Well, it turns out this thug-life ethos is being practiced by parts of the legal cannabis industry.

Medical marijuana cultivation facilities, dispensaries and other pot-based businesses operating in the post-prohibition landscape are reportedly rejecting job applicants with a strong admiration for weed.

Nikki Fried, a Democrat running for agriculture commissioner in Florida, has made no secret of her support for medical marijuana.

Further expansion of the state’s program is the highest priority on her campaign website. Before entering the race, she ran a lobbying firm, Igniting Florida, and described herself as “one of most visible faces and key activists in Florida’s burgeoning medical cannabis industry.”

Even so, employees at Wells Fargo, where her campaign held an account, had questions about her platform.

Medical pot is on the rise in Florida. Since voters legalized medical marijuana and low-THC cannabis in the November 2016 general election, Florida has added 144,557 patients to the Office of Medical Marijuana Use's user registry, according to the Department of Health’s latest update. For a state with a population of 21 million, about one in 145 Floridians can legally use medical weed.

State health officials will hold a workshop Aug. 17 to take input on the application process for new medical marijuana licenses.

The workshop, announced Thursday, will deal with one license earmarked for a black farmer who was a member of litigation dealing with federal discriminatory lending practices and four other licenses for applicants seeking entry into the state’s highly restricted medical marijuana market.

The Legislature ordered the new licenses following the passage of a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida.