Failure to License More Cannabis Businesses in Florida

Failure to License More Cannabis Businesses in Florida

A Florida appeals court judge criticized state officials for not issuing enough medical cannabis licenses to service the more than 700,000 registered patients as required by a 2017 law.

Judge Ross Bilbrey admonished state officials for their inaction and urged them to take action to rectify the situation.  This leaves many patients unable to access the medicine they need.

The judge said citizens are “understandably frustrated with the ongoing failure of the Department of Health to open the application window and issue Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) licenses as required by the Florida Constitution.” 

Under the 2017 law, new licenses should be awarded as the amount of medical cannabis patient increase to meet the need. The state now has more than 700,000 registered patients and should have issued 22 more licenses.

At this point, the state should have doubled the number of medical cannabis operators to meet the needs of medical marijuana patients. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration team has not moved forward with issuing any newer cannabis licenses.

Get your daily cannabis news updates and subscribe here.

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *