Trulieve Announces Expungement Clinics in Pittsburgh During the 2021 WPA Juneteenth Freedom Days Festival

Florida’s legal cannabis program has drawn a lot of investor attention as the potential for this segment of the US cannabis market continues to grow.

The U.S. cannabis industry is largely fragmented because the plant is still illegal at the federal level. Despite this obstacle, several states across the country have implemented medical and recreational cannabis laws that allow it to be cultivated, processed, sold commercially, and used by consumers.

While this legislation varies widely from state to state, one state’s medical cannabis industry has seen unprecedented growth: Florida.

Cannabis – Will the Fortune 500 join the party?

Our exclusive FREE report has the information you need to know about investing in cannabis stocks!

The coastal state’s path to legalizing cannabis has been challenging. In 2016, over 70 percent of Floridians voted for a constitutional amendment that allows the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

However, in 2017 legislation that created the state’s legal framework for medical cannabis, then-Governor Rick Scott banned the smoking of medical cannabis. It wasn’t until March 2019 that Ron DeSantis, the current governor of Florida, lifted the ban on smokable marijuana.

In light of these challenges, the Sunshine State has developed one of the most attractive medical cannabis markets in the country. In fact, Florida’s medical marijuana area is one of the fastest growing in the country.

Read on to learn more about investing in Florida’s legal cannabis space and the top marijuana stocks to watch out for.

Florida medical cannabis: fast growing market

Florida’s large population – the third largest in the US – is a factor in the attractiveness of the cannabis market. The state is also the fourth largest economy in the United States, with a gross domestic product of just over $ 1 billion in 2020.

A 2020 report by Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics shows that the legal cannabis industry in the US is expected to grow 18.2 percent to $ 33.9 billion between 2019 and 2025. Florida is one of the jurisdictions that will contribute the most to this growth.

“The Total Available Market, or TAM, is one of the most critical factors for any industry,” says Dustin Robinson, founding partner of Mr. Cannabis Law, in an article for Green Entrepreneurs. “Florida’s marijuana industry happens to have one of the strongest TAMs in the world.”

According to a June 2021 update from Florida Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), the state had 569,450 qualified medical marijuana patients and 2,542 qualified doctors.

Florida’s patient count is only a small percentage of the 21 million population, but it has grown steadily since the drug was legalized in the state in 2016. In fact, the number of patients has more than doubled in the past two years.

According to Robinson, there are just under 300 retail locations in Florida, with another 500 locations expected by the end of 2022.

Beacon Securities analyst Russell Stanley said Florida has a healthy list of addressable diseases that cannabis can treat, unlike other states’ medical marijuana programs.

“Several other states have struggled to expand their programs, in part because it was very difficult for patients to get access to products,” Stanley told the Investing News Network. “Other states have restrictions on what doctors they can recommend and what they can recommend them for.”

Cannabis – Will the Fortune 500 join the party?

Our exclusive FREE report has the information you need to know about investing in cannabis stocks!

Florida cannabis market: high barriers to entry

The Florida Medical Marijuana Act of 2017 put a cap on the number of medical marijuana dispensaries and required each center to be vertically integrated – they all had to manage their own operations, from cannabis cultivation and processing to distribution and sale .

The upper limit for the number of pharmacies expired in April 2020. While the vertical integration requirements portion of the law went through a three-year legal process, the Florida Supreme Court recently upheld the law, meaning that requirement will continue to shape the Florida cannabis market for years to come.

During a panel discussion, Steve Hawkins, CEO of Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) said that he sees vertical integration as one of the main advantages for US companies compared to the Canadian cannabis market. Only players who have been able to develop production, manufacturing and distribution capabilities for cannabis can compete in the market.

As of March 2021, the state had 22 licensed medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTCs) and five laboratories licensed for third party testing. The small number of licenses currently issued creates high entry barriers, which is a big plus for the companies currently operating, which are already well established in the market.

Robinson believes “the 22 licensees are in a great position to build multi-billion dollar businesses in Florida’s growing marijuana industry.”

These 22 established licensees will also benefit if and when recreational cannabis becomes legal in the state. “In Florida, the medical marijuana license allows current MMTCs to build as large a footprint as possible in preparation for legalization of adult (recreational) use,” he said.

Florida cannabis market: Top Florida cannabis stocks

As the legal cannabis industry in Florida grows, some players have started to stand out in the state.

Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis (CSE: TRUL, OTC Pink: TCNNF) holds the lion’s share of the market and has always been a top-performing stock in the state.

Trulieve opened Florida’s first medical marijuana dispensary in 2016 and has since grown to become an industry player with a current market cap of $ 5.52 billion.

As of June 2021, Trulieve had 82 dispensing points in the state, according to the OMMU. In one week, more than 76.5 million milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products and 1.6 million milligrams of cannabidiol (CBD) products were sold, in addition to 32,295 ounces of dried flower.

Shortly after smokable marijuana was legalized, Trulieve began selling flowers and was the first in the state to do so. Trulieve has also benefited from a vertically integrated structure that encompasses the cultivation, production and distribution of cannabis, which is essential as cannabis cannot yet be transported across state borders.

Surterra Wellness is a distant second with 39 dispensaries and sales of over 22.2 million milligrams of THC products and 1.6 million milligrams of CBD products and 6,911 ounces of dried bud. Surterra is owned by Parallel, one of the largest private multi-state cannabis operators (MSOs) in the country.

Cannabis – Will the Fortune 500 join the party?

Our exclusive FREE report has the information you need to know about investing in cannabis stocks!

Parallel recently announced its intention to go public under a definitive business combination agreement with Ceres Acquisition (NEO: CERE, OTCQX: CERAF), a commercial purpose company.

Another big player in the state is Curaleaf Holdings, headquartered in Massachusetts (CSE: CURA, OTCQX: CURLF). While Curaleaf is not native to Florida, its presence in the state’s cannabis business is substantial. Of the MSO’s total of 101 pharmacies, 37 are in Florida, placing it in third place behind Trulieve and Surterra.

The vertically integrated company also launched the state’s first medical cannabis tablets in September 2019, followed by the first sublingual tablets in July 2020.

Curaleaf had impressive 2020 sales figures, reporting retail sales of $ 423.2 million compared to $ 138.7 million in 2019. The company attributed the 205 percent increase to new store openings in its operating states , including five in Florida in 2020.

Liberty Health Sciences, which was acquired by Ayr Wellness (CSE: AYR.A, OTCQX: AYRWF) in an all-stock transaction in February 2021, also holds a significant stake in Florida. Liberty currently has 36 drop-off points in the state, according to OMMU.

Ayr Wellness plans to increase this presence to 42 pharmacies by the end of 2021, and targets annual retail sales of approximately $ 4 million per store by 2022. In May 2021, the company announced the launch of its Origyn premium concentrate line in. known the state. The product line includes Wax, Crumble, Rick Simpson Oil and Shatter. Ayr has also begun construction of a 10-acre outdoor grow, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.

Florida cannabis market: takeaway investors

As its medical marijuana industry continues to grow, Florida has a lot to offer in terms of investment opportunities. BDS Analytics predicts the Florida medical cannabis market will reach $ 1.5 billion in sales in 2021, up 53 percent from 2020 sales.

The research firm predicts that recreational cannabis could be legal by 2023, which would set Florida on its way to becoming the third largest legal cannabis market in the US by 2026. Whether or not adult use gets the green light anytime soon, investors should nonetheless consider the Sunshine State as the premier cannabis jurisdiction.

INTepth

Would you like more details? You can find more information about INNdepth in these articles:

Want an overview of investing in cannabis stocks? Check out investing in the cannabis industry.

Read on … Show less