Weeks after a ballot measure to allow recreational marijuana failed, Florida health officials announced they intend to award medical cannabis licenses to 22 businesses from among dozens that applied more than a year ago.
The move, posted on the Department of Health’s website Tuesday, sets up what could be drawn out litigation from the applicants that missed out on a rare chance to join the state's medical pot industry.
The health agency’s website identified a list of 22 that received “letters of intent to approve” medical marijuana licenses. The selection comes more than 18 months after the application period closed in April 2023.
The letters of intent do not mean that the selected applicants immediately will receive licenses. At least some of the losing applicants are expected to challenge the health agency’s decisions and lead to further delays.
The health department received 74 applications from businesses that paid $143,000 to apply, but one applicant withdrew.
The state paid consulting firm KPMG nearly $1.79 million to score the applications based on a variety of factors.
The newly approved applicants are:
- A Good Decision LLC
- Alamanda Farms LLC
- East Coast Packers LLC
- Florida Sports Consultants, d/b/a Belushi’s Farm Florida
- FG Operating LLC;
- Gates Housing Group LLC
- Global Investment Group Inc., d/b/a Infinite Wellness
- Green Point Research LLC
- Healing Greene FL LLC
- KCOF LLC, d/b/a KLUTCH Cannabis
- King Palms Inc.
- O'Donnell Landscapes Inc.
- Pioneer Growers of Florida Inc.
- Pure Beauty Farms Inc.
- RAAB LLC, d/b/a Canna Direct
- Star Buds Florida LLC
- Statewide Property Holdings FL LLC
- STIIIZY Florida LLC
- Sunfest Herbs LLC
- The Flower Shop FL LLC
- Theory Wellness of Florida LLC
- Wachovia Holdings LLC, d/b/a Greenlight
Belushi’s Farm Florida is part of a team including actor Jim Belushi, who operates a cannabis farm in Oregon.
The licenses are required under a 2017 law that called for boosting the number of licenses as eligible patients ─ which currently exceeds 880,000 ─ increases.
Last year’s round of medical cannabis applications was the first major opportunity for newcomers to the industry to vie for licenses since the 2017 legislation passed. An initial round of licenses was based on a 2014 law that legalized noneuphoric cannabis for a limited number of patients.
The state currently has 25 licensed operators, who run more than 690 dispensaries throughout the state.
The department’s letters this week will likely trigger legal challenges that could stall the final issuance of the licenses for months, if not years.
“Historically, when these sorts of things happen, litigation does occur. In this situation, you have 22 people that are very happy and 50 people that are not very happy at all, right? So it's very, very competitive,” Department of Health spokesperson Jae Williams told The News Service of Florida on Wednesday.
The health department and its Office of Medical Marijuana Use “take the job very seriously, because we have the responsibility and the duty to ensure that the highest-scored applicants are suited to be in a position to provide the absolute highest quality product to our patients,” Williams added.
“But with that said, they've invested a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of resources. It's a business. They've allocated a lot of time and resources to applying for this application, which is not a cheap process, and it's certainly not cheap, getting yourself in a position to even be able to apply. So, realistically, we probably could see some litigation occur. … And then, once all that is situated, we can keep moving,” Williams said.
Potential operators who received the letters are hoping that Florida lawmakers will speed up the process for licenses to be finalized, a step they have taken in the past.
“History has shown that the Legislature often gets involved in these issues,” attorney John Lockwood, who specializes in cannabis law, told the News Service.
Paula Savchenko, an attorney and consultant who worked on Belushi’s application, said potential licensees could wait years unless lawmakers intervene.
“If we don’t have a legislative fix, we’re going to see these licenses held up for anywhere between six months to two years,” Savchenko, the founding partner of Cannacore Group and PS Law Group, said in a phone interview Wednesday.
The health department’s letters came three weeks after the proposed constitutional amendment on recreational use fell shy of the 60 percent required to pass. About 56 percent of voters supported the measure, which appeared on the Nov. 5 ballot as Amendment 3.
Ahead of the election, Gov. Ron DeSantis flexed his executive authority in a state-backed crusade against the measure and played an outsized role in blocking it from meeting the threshold for passage.
The long-awaited announcement about the medical licenses was somewhat dimmed by the failure of the recreational proposal.
“We’re still excited. Obviously, the majority of people in the industry would rather have had recreational pass, but we all are pretty confident that it’s going to pass sometime in the next two to four years,” Savchenko said. “But, yeah, Belushi brands is more tailored to recreational markets but they were OK with operating in the medical industry when they first applied for this license.”
Quincy-based Trulieve, which spent more than $150 million on Amendment 3 and is by far the state’s largest medical marijuana operator, welcomed the competition.
“We are pleased that the licenses are finally issued bringing the number of licensees to 47. We continue to look forward to working with the governor and Legislature to expand access to safe lab-tested cannabis for Floridians,” Trulieve said in a statement.
