The cannabis market throughout North America has been hailed as one of the fastest growing markets for some time now, but new updates to legislation continue to change the way that we interact with the industry. For this reason, many individuals have been moving their eyes toward the marijuana market as more and more reasons continue to fuel opportunity in the space.
One of the markets that many people have been talking about, and one that has still remained under the radar is that of the industry in Florida. Much of the news usually concerns the state of California, but other states in the U.S. are also showing great amounts of promise. The state has been steadily able to approve as many as 2,580 patients for medicinal use per week, which means that they have already seen an increase of as much as 100% since the beginning of this year alone. This is a massive number considering the time it has taken other states to reach a similar amount of patients. Florida has also been known to be one of the more restrictive states with edible products as well as flower, not being available for purchase at this point yet. According to one report “In 2014, medical marijuana was approved but with only five licenses to be awarded. In 2016, voters approved a constitutional amendment that expanded the medical marijuana program. In order to institute the expansion, health officials were ordered to issue 10 new licenses. This included applicants who had legal challenges pending as of January 2017.” These new licenses have continued to help build the industry to places that no one thought it could reach.
According to Tyler Beuerlein, from cannabis payment company Hypur Inc. “the Florida market has issues 13 licenses. The license gives the company the ability to have their own cultivation property and 25 dispensaries. The value is substantial and some are going for as much as $50 million. It is very appealing from an investment perspective.” Many investors have shared this opinion, as Florida continues to work on growing out its marijuana sector.
Matthew Ginder, a partner at Greenspoon Marder, a local law firm that works within the cannabis industry, stated that “There are other companies that have followed suit and are here now but may not have dispensaries open yet, such as AltMed, MedMen, IAnthus (ITHUF) , Liberty Health Sciences (LHSIF) and a few others,” Ginder said. “Competition is expected to increase as the state issues additional licenses as patient count rises and multistate operators enter through acquisitions of existing licensed MMTCs (medical marijuana treatment centers).” The increase in competition will likely help the market to reach somewhere near its full potential in the near future as more and more companies begin to develop new strategies to entering the market. He continued to state that the population “and the amount of tourists that visit the state, an estimated 100 million annually, a fully implemented recreational program could generate a few billion dollars in revenue.” This would massively help the state to work on various projects given this influx of potential capital.
The only issue that currently remains is that of the legislation behind the product. If the state is able to make the legislation more acceptable to what the people would like to see given the positive sentiment behind cannabis, the market will likely be able to flourish as we move toward the near future. The hopes are high that over the course of the next few years. The industry will be able to make its mark across the cannabis sector.
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