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Cannabis Market Profile – Florida

August 20, 2021
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Each week the EDGE Briefing will report on the conditions and trends in key cannabis markets across the country as we assess opportunities of interest to our investors in those markets.

This week’s focus – Florida

What if someone told you that the third largest state in the U.S. with the fourth largest economy had only 22 medical marijuana licensees?

I know you know to which state I am referring.  And the Florida Supreme Court recently upheld the State law that limits the number of these vertically integrated licenses issued.

Florida medical marijuana sales are dominated by three of six major multi-state operators (MSOs), Trulieve, Surterra Wellness, and Curaleaf.  The current  2021 MJBizFactbook projects Florida medical marijuana sales to climb as high as $1.3 billion this year on the way to an estimated $2 billion annually by 2025. Trulieve’s revenues of nearly $500 million account for almost half of the state’s total current sales revenue. Throughout the state there are currently over 300 dispensaries where the state’s 570 million cardholders can access medical marijuana.  This total is projected to grow to 500 dispensaries by 2023.

While this sets high barriers for new entrants that would be restricted to dealing with this limited number of license holders, a recent clarification of the Florida law, evolving out of the case brought by plaintiff Florigrown, could result in the Florida Department of Health issuing 15 new vertical licenses as early as the end of this year. The mere size of the state’s population and the eventual potential of adult use legislation being enacted continues to draw investor interest.  Just this past week Eaze, a formerly troubled cannabis delivery service, became a major national player by purchasing the Green Dragon dispensaries in Florida, adding to their dispensary operations in Colorado and Michigan. Investor News Network (INN) reports on the prediction made by BDS Analytics that recreational cannabis could be legal by 2023. INN reflects the common sentiment among the investment community that:

regardless of whether adult use gets the green light that soon, investors should still consider the Sunshine State as a premier cannabis jurisdiction.