<p>Florida State Governor Ron Desantis' administration has recently announced that they will open up Florida's medical marijuana industry for new license applications. Florida health officials will accept applications for 22 new medical marijuana operator licenses. The state will start taking applications on April 24 and will finish on April 28, 2023. The state has said they would accept applications in "cycles", but have said that more information on the cycles will be given in a separate ruling. The 22 new licenses would double the amount of active vertically integrated cannabis operators in Florida, from 22 to 44. The 22 current license operators have over 400 dispensary locations all across the state.</p>
<h2 id="0">Medical Marijuana Applications Open April 24</h2>
<p>The Florida medical marijuana market has been closed to new business applicants since 2017. No new businesses have been able to enter the Florida market since then. There are currently over 775,000 medical marijuana patients registered in the state of Florida. The 22 new licenses would double the number of vertically integrated medical marijuana operators in the state from 22 to 44. This increase in licensing is great for medical marijuana patients who are tired of the current market operators.</p>
<p>The permitting of 22 additional medical marijuana licenses can also affect the Florida recreational cannabis market if it comes around in 2024.<br />The Adult Use of Marijuana amendment permits Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers to sell, distribute, or dispense marijuana and marijuana accessories if clearly labeled and in childproof packaging to adults. If this amendment passes, all medical marijuana dispensaries will be able to sell cannabis to those 21 and older. Knowing that recreational cannabis is a possibility makes the desire to acquire a license even stronger, as it's a guaranteed way into the recreational cannabis market in Florida.</p>
<p>Aside from doubling the license amount, the Florida state government decided to make some other changes. The state Department of Health also published an emergency rule that would raise the license application and renewal cost. The license application cost was originally $60,830 but has now risen to $146,000. The renewal fee for license operators has gone from $600,000 to $1,000,00 every two years.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 id="1">How The New Licensing System Will Work</h3>
<p>Florida has a <a title="scoring criteria" href="https://ww10.doh.state.fl.us/pub/ommu/Rules/Evaluator%20Instructions%20Manual%20(Regular%20Apps)%20-Final.pdf">scoring criteria</a> that will determine which applications get accepted. Points will be awarded to applicants who have infrastructure and equipment already ready to go. For the last few years, only big-time corporate companies have been able to get involved in the Florida cannabis market, and it seems it's going to stay that way.</p>