Pastor Resign’s From Bethel Baptist Church amid rumors that the board may be thinking of re-voting to lease land to Grow Healthy.
Lake Wales, Florida – A medical marijuana (Charlotte’s Web) plant in Lake Wales was stopped after a small Baptist church made the decision to vote against the plant leasing it’s property. Now the former pastor of the church says that may be in jeopardy. Marshall Kirchik, the former pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, said that rumors of re-vote are part of the reason he resigned from the church on Saturday.
News broke in late August that a company called Grow Healthy Inc. was purchasing the old mattress factory on S. Acuff Rd. The Bethel Baptist Church which has property within 1000 feet of the proposed facility had voted 8-0 in favor leasing property to Grow Healthy. After word got out the board voted again and decided by a 5-3 vote not to lease the property. The non-leasing of the property effectively stopped Grow Healthy from using the facility.
The Daily Ridge contacted the Bethel Baptist Church and spoke with board president Tom Avirett who advised that pastor Marshall Kirchik resign from the church. Mr. Avirett didn’t give any specific reason for the resignation. Averitt however did say that he didn’t think the board was looking to revisit the vote for leasing the land to Grow Healthy. He did reiterate that he was only one voice on the board and things could change. He couldn’t speak for other people.
The Daily Ridge also reached out to the media relations company for Grow Healthy, but they hadn’t responded at this time. For now it appears that things are not changing, but as Mr. Avirett said “Things could change”.
It is important to note that Charlotte’s Web is currently legal in the state of Florida. Gov. Rick Scott quietly signed a bill June 16th, 2014 legalizing “Charlotte’s Web”. The measure (SB 1030) allows some patients to use a strain of marijuana that is low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) but high in cannabidiol (CBD) — a mix that supporters say provides the health-care benefits of pot without the high.
It is also important to note that while the Grow Healthy organization appeared to be wanting to start with Charlotte’s Web, the authorized growers have not been approved yet by the state. Rules for who could grow medical marijuana for Charlotte’s Web were just released last month and prospective growers have already filed lawsuits claiming that rules made it basically a lottery to who could become a grower. The state is only providing 5 licenses and many more (including Grow Healthy) are trying to lay claim to the licenses. The original wording in the bill that Gov. Scott signed said the House limited eligible growers to large commercial nurseries that have been in business in Florida for at least 30 years. This would appear to have not allowed Grow Healthy the opportunity to produce “Charlotte’s Web”. It will be interesting to see if Amendment 2 is passed how long it will take for legislators, growers and law enforcement to come together on the best possible process to move forward.