Last week, I found myself digging through a 78-page bill passed by Florida’s Legislature in June 2017: the Medical Use of Marijuana Act. The legislation was designed to establish regulations for implementing Amendment 2, which voters passed with a 71.3% majority in the 2016 election.

The bill states that a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) may not establish or operate more than a statewide maximum of 25 dispensing facilities unless the medical cannabis use registry reaches a total of 100,000 registered patients. With each 100,000-patient increment, the maximum retail limit increases by five. With 750,000 patients registered today, that means the current limit is 60 dispensaries per MMTC.

But I asked myself, how could that be with Tallahassee-based Trulieve currently operating 120 dispensaries in Florida? Could the company’s $2.1-billion acquisition of Harvest Health in 2021 have anything to do with it?

Further down, the bill explains that if an MMTC establishes a number of dispensaries within a region that is less than the number allowed for that region, then the MMTC may sell one or more of its unused dispensing facility slots to other licensed MMTCs. When that happens, the statewide maximum number of dispensaries for an MMTC increases for the purchasing company.

While I’m no law expert, one thing appears evident: There’s a green rush going on in Florida with an ever-expanding retail footprint, climbing patient numbers and the possibility of adult-use legalization on the horizon through a 2024 ballot campaign. But some have been left behind.

I was digging through that 2017 legislation in an attempt to unravel an appeals court decision from Sept. 7 that ruled aspiring market entrant Louis Del Favero Orchids Inc., based in Tampa, had no legal ground to force Florida’s Health Department to review the company’s license application from 2018, when the state’s application window was closed. That window remains closed today.

Despite the ruling, First District Court of Appeal Judge Ross Bilbrey lambasted state officials for dragging their feet in issuing more licenses, writing that “it may be necessary for a potential licensee to ‘seek judicial relief to compel compliance with the department’s constitutional duties.’”

What are those duties? The department shall “license four additional [MMTCs] … within six months after the registration of each additional 100,000 active qualified patients.” Based on 2017 law, Florida health officials should have issued at least 20 additional licenses by now.

But while market hopefuls like Del Favero remain on the sideline, Florida’s current 22 operators continue to take a firmer hold on green-rich territories throughout the state.

-Tony Lange, Associate Editor

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