Writers

Justine Griffin

Justine Griffin covers health and medicine for the Tampa Bay Times. She is a native Floridian who spent most of her childhood in Pasco County. She previously wrote about business news. Prior to coming to the Times in 2015, she worked for the St. Augustine Record, the Sun Sentinel and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where she gained national attention for her retail coverage and for a longform article she wrote about her experience as an egg donor. Justine is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, where she studied journalism. She's an equestrian. Her horse is named Mikey.

A judge in Tallahassee has ruled in favor of Joe Redner, the Tampa strip club owner who is challenging the state in court, saying he has the right to grow marijuana for medical purposes in his back yard. [Times (2007)]

Judge: Joe Redner can legally grow his own marijuana

A court ruled Wednesday that Tampa strip club owner Joe Redner can grow his own marijuana for medical purposes, a decision that lawyers say could lead to a wave of similar cases.The ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers applies only...

Published: 04/11/18

Here are the top five things killing Floridians, new study says

Florida is ranked 29th in the nation for the highest rates of years of life lost, according to a new medical study. Opioid use disorders skyrocketed more than 750 percent over the past 26 years in Florida alone, according to

Published: 04/11/18

In a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Health, Tampa strip club owner Joe Redner says he has a right to own marijuana plants for medicinal uses. Redner, 77, is a lung cancer patient. [OCTAVIO JONES | Times]

Could Tampa�s own Joe Redner shake up the medical marijuana industry?

Joe Redner wants to juice his own marijuana, harvested from his back yard.The 77-year-old strip club owner with stage 4 lung cancer already has a recommendation from his state-certified physician to do it. But the Florida Department of Health...

Published: 04/11/18

A bonnethead shark swims in a tank at the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, where researchers have been exploring the abiliy of sharks' immune cells to attack cancer in humans. Leading the years-long project is scientist Carl Leur, who has devised a way to use animals in captivity instead of plucking them from the wild. [SCOTT KEELER | Times]

A new way to attack cancer lives inside the shark. But where? (w/video)

SARASOTA � Scientist Carl Luer has spent most of his life studying an animal humans inherently fear: sharks.The predators of the sea have been the villains of thriller tales since the 1974 novel, Jaws They�ve invaded the streets of Los...

Published: 04/04/18

Updated: 04/06/18

Hillary Talbott, left, of the Art of Acupuncture in St. Petersburg, and Colette Florido, take a whiff of a topical spray created using herbs and Florido's CBD-rich hemp-infused coconut oil as a base, Thursday, June 1, 2017. The women have been experimenting with different pain-relief formulas. Florido started her own cannabis oil company, CR World, in St. Petersburg [CHERIE DIEZ | Times]

Are medical marijuana, acupuncture alternatives to opioids?

After battling Lyme disease and other ailments for nearly 20 years, Bridgitte Pascale tried "almost everything" to alleviate her pain without relying on opioids. Though doctors prescribed Percocet and muscle relaxers, she turned to acupuncture...

Published: 04/02/18

Bayfront Health Dade City, a 120-bed hospital in Pasco County, sold to Florida Hospital in December and, as of this week, will be known as Florida Hospital Dade City. [Photo courtesy of Bayfront Health]

Florida Hospital officially moves into Dade City. Here�s how things will change.

Starting today, the "Bayfront Health" moniker will no longer be attached to the Dade City hospital. Adventist Health System, the parent company of Florida Hospital, announced in December its intentions to buy Bayfront Health Dade City hospital...

Published: 03/30/18

Updated: 04/03/18

Oncologist Dr. Charles C. Williams Jr. had worked at Moffitt Cancer Center since the institution opened its doors in 1986. He died in a fiery three-car crash Wednesday in Temple Terrace. [Moffitt Cancer Center]

Writers

Justine Griffin

Judge: Joe Redner can legally grow his own marijuana

Here are the top five things killing Floridians, new study says

Could Tampa�s own Joe Redner shake up the medical marijuana industry?

A new way to attack cancer lives inside the shark. But where? (w/video)

Are medical marijuana, acupuncture alternatives to opioids?

Florida Hospital officially moves into Dade City. Here�s how things will change.

Moffitt doctor killed in crash remembered for treating patients like family

Johns Hopkins All Children�s will treat babies exposed to opioids with anonymous $2.5M donation

Should Florida law require school kids to get the HPV vaccine?

New law gives permanent state funding to private �pregnancy centers�