Florida’s medical cannabis industry is set to almost double, dismantling the monopoly 28 companies have held since 2017 in one of the US’s largest markets.
On Tuesday, regulators issued letters of ‘intent-to-approve’ to 22 more companies that had submitted applications some 19 months earlier.
In April 2023, 74 applications were accepted in a bid to adhere to state laws around Florida’s medical cannabis industry.
According to the law, for every additional 100,000 active patients, the state is required to issue four additional licenses within six months.
However, despite nearly 900,000 active patients now registered in Florida, no new licenses have been granted since 2017.
It also requires licenses to be set aside for Black farmers in efforts to ensure a socially equitable industry. As such, the health department has now awarded licenses to three Black applicants who had previously been rejected.
The application process is also incredibly costly for businesses. Successful applicants are required to pay $5m bonds and must begin cultivating within 60 days of approval.
Applicants were also required to pay initial fees of $146,000 to participate, and regulators recently raised annual license renewal fees from $60,000 to over $1m.
The snail’s pace of application approvals and these costs have divided opinion among stakeholders as to whether the state purposefully hindering industry growth.
In a major blow to the US cannabis industry, a vote to legalize adult-use cannabis in Florida failed to pass earlier this month.
While the Amendment 3 initiative received a clear majority of 57.8% of the vote, it fell short of the 60% ‘supermajority’ threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment in the state.
As the US Cannabis Council’s David Culver, Head of Policy, states, if the vote were held in any other state, it would have succeeded.
The vote followed intense lobbying by opponents, including state governor Ron DeSantis, to shoot down the amendment.
Below are the 22 companies who are now set to receive medical licenses:
- A Good Decision LLC
- Alamanda Farms LLC
- East Coast Packers LLC
- FG Operating Florida LLC
- Florida Sports Consultants Inc. (d/b/a Belushi’s Farm Florida)
- Gates Housing Group LLC
- Global Investment Group Inc. (d/b/a Infinite Wellness)
- Green Point Research LLC
- Healing Greene FL LLC
- KCOF LLC (d/b/a KLUTCH Cannabis)
- King Palms Inc.
- O’Donnell Landscapes Inc.
- Pioneer Growers of Florida Inc.
- Pure Beauty Farms Inc.
- RAAB LLC (d/b/a Canna Direct)
- Star Buds Florida LLC
- Statewide Property Holdings FL LLC
- STIIIZY Florida LLC
- Sunfest Herbs LLC
- The Flower Shop FL LLC
- Theory Wellness of Florida LLC
- Wachovia Holdings LLC (d/b/a Greenlight)
