florida medical marijuana market

Florida's marijuana market comprises 22 Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTCs). Each of the centers has a license that permits them to cultivate, process, and distribute medical marijuana. The state also has up to five laboratories with licenses for executing third-party testing of medical marijuana.

That’s not all!

Florida is about awarded at least 27 new state licenses to cannabis entrepreneurs to operate within the borders. These licenses will enable the kicking off of medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTC). It will increase the number of treatment centers in the state significantly. Simply put, a boom is coming into the already massive medical marijuana industry in Florida.

The state’s Health Department will issue the new licenses on or before the 1st of July, 2023.

You would wonder why the state adopts the use of marijuana for medical reasons. Here are two reasons why:

It is the third-largest state in the United States.
About 20 percent of the state’s population is 65 years and older.

These two reasons contribute greatly to Florida's current position as one of the most important and major markets in the United States of America.

Cannabis Laws In Florida

In 2019, Senate Bill 182 went into effect. It authorizes the possession, use, or distribution of smokable marijuana flowers within the state of Florida. In 2020, Florida enacted some rules to govern the safe production of edibles.

Note that there is a rapid growth in the demand for these edibles across the state due to the following reasons:

It is a smoke-free method of consumption
It is perceived as a more sanitary consumption method, especially when compared to smoking dried cannabis flowers in a bowl.

Now that the marijuana market in the state has smokable flowers and edibles, the current MMTCs and labs have a lot of products to license, formulate, develop, produce and sell.

Florida’s Market Potential

The Total Available Market (TAM) is the total demand for a product available to a supplier, especially if they were the only suppliers supplying the product. TAM is one of the most important factors to consider for any industry. Since cannabis is illegal on the federal level, marijuana companies cannot ship marijuana from one state to the other. Thus, TAM in the cannabis industry is limited to the state where a company operates.

At the moment, Florida's marijuana industry has one of the most robust and most profitable Total Available Market (TAM) in the world.

Planet 13 cannabis dispensary chain plans massive expansion into the Florida market by M&A activity in the near future.

The state has over 450,000 qualified patients, and this number is consistently rising by about 3,000 patients every week. The rapid increase in the number of patients in need of marijuana has made the state the most prominent medical marijuana market in the United States.

In addition to this, Florida has a growing population of about 20 million, with a tourist population of about 150 million. This means that the state could gradually become one of the biggest marijuana markets on the globe when adult-use regulations go into effect.

Currently, Florida has about 300 retail locations, with an expected 500 locations by the end of 2022. From the figures, it is almost certain that Florida will become the most dominant market globally as far as the marijuana or cannabis industry is concerned.

More Details

Sales of marijuana edibles in Florida is expected to reach a whopping $250 million. This is because of the size of the medical marijuana market and the increasing demand for edibles across the nation. The number is likely to increase to a more considerable extent when the state government approves adult use.

This will allow the current Marijuana Medical Treatment Centers MMTCs and third-party labs to harness the market's full potential. There will also be a possibility of increasing the total available demand of the marijuana market.

Opportunities attached to the boom

This boom is undoubtedly a good plan for patients and job seekers. In addition to the 27 freshly issued licenses, Florida’s Health Department intends to inject the sum of $13 million into the Medical Marijuana system. At the moment, Florida's medical marijuana industry has over 15,000 employees. But with the budget, there will be an expected rise in employee demand. At least extra hands will be added.

Additionally, the state needs millions of dollars extra to fund a publicity plan as well as establish three offices in regions like Orlando, Tampa Bay, and Miami.

These new initiatives will result in the employment of a new set of workers. There will also be a need for workers to cultivate the plants. Apart from employment opportunities, patients who qualify for marijuana prescriptions will have easier assess to them. They would not need to travel to other states where marijuana is legalized.

Presently, 620,000 patients have qualified for the prescriptions. The following illnesses are treated using medical marijuana in Florida – Seizures, Epilepsy, ALS, Glaucoma, PTSD, Multiple sclerosis, cancer, HIV/AIDS, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, Chronic non-malignant pain, Terminal illnesses, and more.

How massive is medical marijuana going to be in Florida?

Based on a recent study by ArcView, Florida's cannabis industry is likely to get up to $6 billion by the year 2030. That’s a significant boom, but that’s not all. Additionally, Florida is expected to finally legalize the use of recreational marijuana in the state.

In the next election, the foremost Democrats running to occupy the seat of Governor Ron DeSantis are major supporters of legalizing marijuana for adult use. The Supreme Court of Florida just shot down recreational legalization for the moment.

Also, indigenes who support marijuana legalization are intensely trying to place it on the ballot in 2022. If this is successful, Florida only needs 60% of the voters to support legalizing marijuana for the policy to be enacted.

Final Note

Whatever happens with recreational cannabis usage, medical cannabis has come to stay in the state. It has provided opportunities for all and sundry. The entire population – both the young and old can enjoy the benefits of medical marijuana.