ORANGE PARK – The business building at 418 Kingsley Avenue is home to a beauty salon, a jewelry store, a tech shop, and, as of Nov. 17, the Town of Orange Park’s first CBD Dispensary.

CBD oil, otherwise known as Cannabidiol, has been legal since the ‘Charlotte’s Web’ bill passed in 2014. But the 400 square foot room inside of a shared office space overlooking Town Hall Park is the first the town has seen of the medicine.

Oils, vapors and edibles made with the medicine originate from strains of marijuana that are high in CBD, but low in the ‘high’ producing compound tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The compound has no psychoactive properties, meaning users only receive medicinal benefits, not the euphoric high of marijuana. CBD oil can also come from hemp.

“I’m here to help the people and it’s been a long time since the product has been out and no one carries it,” said Harry Satur, who owns the dispensary. “I thought it would be a really good idea to help out the community for people suffering with dancer and stuff like that.”

The store sells a variety of products to facilitate the usage of the medicine, as well. Users can ingest the medicine with chocolate shipped from Denver, Colorado – equivalent to a day’s dose, and vape the product using electronic cigarettes. The store also sells the more traditional CBD hemp oils ranging in dosage level from 200 milligrams to 5,000 milligrams.

Patients can help alleviate the symptoms of epilepsy, post-traumatic stress syndrome and multiple sclerosis – among other diseases.

“It’s a new thing here and hopefully it will take off,” Satur said. “We’ve had several customers already. They’re very happy that we opened up.”

The shop’s opening comes less than ten days after Clay County voters overwhelmingly supported amendment 2 to legalize the use of medical marijuana at 70 percent. Satur said the amendment’s passage helped in his decision to open the shop, but he doesn’t expect to turn the shop into a full medical marijuana dispensary

Not that he could, currently. The Town passed a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in mid-October to give the town time to examine how to properly zone the dispensaries when they come.

And they seem to be on their way. The day Satur’s dispensary opened, one man walked into the currently bare-bones shop and expressed sadness, saying he was going to open a dispensary as well.

Other communities statewide have enacted similar ordinances temporarily banning dispensaries within their town limits. Miami-Dade County recently adopted an ordinance restricting dispensaries from opening near residential areas or within 1,000 feet of a school. Sarasota County, Hillsborough County, Orange County and Orlando have all placed similar restrictions on storefronts.

“With medical marijuana, you have an issue that really crosses the entire political spectrum,” said Senator Rob Bradley, who represents district 5, which includes Clay County. “But we have to be careful, we have to make sure as we set up a regulatory system for it and we keep it out of the hands of children, and control where counties zone the pot shops.”

Bradley sponsored the 2014 Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act, which allowed the use of limited low-THC cannabis. Patients who were terminal had to receive recommendations for the treatment from two different doctors before they could receive the medicine.

But Florida’s first dispensaries are beginning to open after two years of litigation.

Amendment 2 expands the law to include patients with debilitating illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and PTSD.

Satur said he is currently scouting locations for another CBD dispensary, but is in a wait and see position to see how his first dispensary does.