Deadline Set in Florida for Applications to Compete for 22 New Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Licenses

Feb 3, 2023 Fort Lauderdale, FL

Today, the Department of Health (“the Department”) published an emergency rule, 64ER23-1, setting forth the application deadline window for 22 vertically integrated Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) licenses in the state of Florida. The application window opens on April 24, 2023, at 9 a.m. ET and closes on April 28, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET.

On December 19, 2022, the Department released the application with a number of guidelines, including the requirement of a nonrefundable application fee of $146,000 for new applicants. Each applicant is required to meet certain eligibility requirements before being evaluated and scored against other applicants based on a number of criteria, including personnel experience, operational plans, infrastructure, and available funding.

The long-awaited application process was supposed to begin as early as 2017, but has been delayed for various reasons, including lawsuits challenging the licensing structure of Florida’s medical marijuana program.

The issuance of 22 MMTC licenses will be a game-changer for Florida’s billion-dollar medical marijuana market, doubling the number of MMTC licenses currently operating. MMTCs are expected to produce and sell medical marijuana to the largest medical-only marijuana market in the country, which is projected to grow from nearly 800,000 patients now, to over one million patients within the next year and half.

The Department’s plans to move forward with the issuance of new MMTC licenses comes on the heels of news that Florida’s adult-use marijuana ballot initiative received enough petition signatures to trigger Florida Supreme Court review. If the adult-use ballot initiative is successful, it will allow all MMTCs, including those issued through this round of applications, to begin selling products to patients and individuals, 21-years of age or older, by 2025.

Greenspoon Marder’s Cannabis Law Group has filed thousands of applications in both competitive and noncompetitive states and is equipped to help you throughout the process. By having dedicated drafting teams and institutional application experience, our licensing lawyers can help you submit the best possible application. For more information, contact [email protected].

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Deadline Set in Florida for Applications to Compete for 22 New Medical Marijuana Treatment Center Licenses

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