The Sunshine State has one of the largest medical marijuana markets in the country. Last year, it ranked 5th in the top cannabis sales made by states, totaling $1.04 billion in just the first six months of 2022.
Today, the number of registered medical marijuana patients in Florida exceeds 700,000, as the medical market and industry continue to grow with dispensaries, cultivators, patients and consumers alike.
As the demand for medical cannabis in Florida continues to expand, policies and regulations around the state’s legal market are often shifted and modified, impacting these cannabis companies and the industry as a whole.
Read the latest policies and news regarding legal medical cannabis in the state of Florida.
Florida’s Licensing for Medical Marijuana Businesses
Last month, the Florida Department of Health released a pair of ‘emergency rules’ to further indicate the upcoming application process for companies looking to attain a medical marijuana business license. This form of licensing would allow businesses to cultivate, process, and dispense medical cannabis within the state.
This new motion would set up 22 more medical marijuana licenses in Florida, which will be released to applicants in batches throughout this year, instead of all at once. The state has been pressed to release a new round of cannabis licensing since its initial licensing release in 2015.
Since Florida’s medical legalization in 2015, the state law requires regulators to create four new treatment center licenses for every 100,000 new patients that register. As of November 2022, the state has reached approximately 776,000 patients.
Additionally, in this set of emergency rules, the state announced that already existing licensed cannabis operators must renew their licenses every two years, increasing the renewal fee from $60,000 to more than $1 million.
For these upcoming businesses applying for a Florida medical marijuana business license, there is a non-refundable $146,000 fee to the state to submit an application for review.
THC Dosage Amounts & Supply Limits in Florida
In August 2022, the Florida Department of Health released an updated rule that set a limitation on the THC dosage amounts and supply limits on products for medical patients.
This new rule states the THC supply limit for different methods of consumption in a 70 day period:
60mg for edibles
350mg for vaporization
200mg for capsules or tinctures
190mg for tinctures
150mg for topicals
For cannabis flower, Florida issued a law that imposed a 2.5 ounce limit on smokable cannabis purchases over a 35-day period.
The purpose of this updated rule was provoked by the spike of newly registered patients within the state, which showed an increased demand of consumers in an already saturated, limited, and convoluted legal medical market.
This change in the THC dosage and supply limits has caused controversey and debate within the Sunshine State. Dr. Barry Gordon from the Compassionate Cannabis Clinic in Venice reflected on this updated regulation from a doctor’s perspective,
“I think what this demonstrates is just the utter disregard that the DOH (Department of Health) has for not only the doctors who actively participate in the program with honor and integrity and diligence, trying to follow the rules of a very difficult process to navigate already, much less the patients who are disrespected. But to send this out on a Friday afternoon with no discussion, with no workshops, with nothing, is just an unbelievable malfeasance. … Who does that?”
The Push for Recreational Cannabis Legalization in Florida
As the Florida Department of Health updates changes and adjustments to the legal medical market, there’s a buzzing urgency to open up the state at the recreational level as well.
The “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” amendment was proposed late last year, gaining over 150,000 signatures to build support for recreational weed legalization in Florida. This proposal would grant the possession, display, purchase, and transportation of up to two and a half ounces of cannabis for any personal reason, without the use of a medical marijuana card.
However, these already licensed medical marijuana treatment centers and dispensaries would be the businesses granted to sell, distribute, and dispense these legal recreational cannabis products. Of these licensed cannabis companies, multi-state operators such as Trulieve have heavily funded and supported this campaign and proposal, considering their already established presence as a licensed dispensary company in the state.
Additionally, this proposed amendment for legalizing recreational cannabis in Florida would not promote or allow homegrown cannabis of any kind in the state. Many cannabis business leaders in Florida alone have commented on the inadequate access to cannabis medicine this would have on patients,
“(The amendment) does not do nearly enough to expand the industry equitably — many cannabis advocates, including myself and Surterra leadership, are shifting our energy to pushing for the right for Floridians to grow their cannabis at home," shared Lynette French, chief operating officer for the vertically integrated MSO company, Parallel. "We call on Florida’s legislative leadership to pass a measure allowing for home grow during their upcoming legislative session, which begins in April."
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