Florida could add cannabis licenses if Amendment 3 passes

If 60% of Florida voters follow Donald Trump’s lead and cast ballots to legalize recreational marijuana in the state on Election Day, cannabis possession will become legal for adults 21 and older in the nation’s largest medical-only market in May 2025.

That’s also when the state’s existing medical marijuana operators should be allowed to start selling recreational cannabis, according to the language of state constitutional Amendment 3, the most expensive marijuana-legalization push in U.S. history.

But there’s a minor catch: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-dominated state Legislature.

Amendment 3 start date: TBD

Support from 60% of voters is needed to pass a constitutional amendment in Florida.

Medical marijuana sales in the state were estimated to hit $2.1 billion in 2024, according to the MJBiz Factbook, making Florida by far the largest medical-only market in the United States.

Recent polling from the University of North Florida showed 66% of respondents in favor of Amendment 3, though both DeSantis and the state Republican Party are campaigning against the initiative.

According to the language of Amendment 3, if the initiative passes, it would go into effect in six months and the 25 companies currently licensed to operate vertically integrated “Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers” (MMTCs) in Florida “… are allowed to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute marijuana products and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use upon” that date.

That clearly signals first-mover status for licensed MMJ companies, which include most of the country’s largest marijuana multistate operators, chief among them Tallahassee-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp.

With 156 of the state’s 691 dispensaries, Trulieve is the dominant player in Florida.

And with Trulieve contributing $141.9 million toward the Amendment 3 campaign – 94.8% of the total $149.7 million raised, as of Monday – the MSO is by far the chief funder of Smart & Safe Florida, Amendment 3’s sponsoring committee, according to campaign finance records.

Campaign spokesperson Morgan Hill did not respond to an MJBizDaily request for comment.

Implementing Amendment 3

Florida’s “single-issue” requirement limits constitutional amendments in scope.

That’s why Amendment 3 lacks a provision legalizing home grow, attorney John Morgan said during a Friday news conference.

Personal cultivation would require state lawmakers to pass a separate bill.

State legislators are aware they would need to pass follow-up “implementation legislation” to create new business opportunities in Florida’s adult-use cannabis market as well as “guardrails” for public consumption under Amendment 3.

For example, Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, an Amendment 3 supporter, said in August he will pursue a bill that bans vaping and smoking in public, including on the state’s 825 miles of beaches.

The follow-up legislation could change the course of Florida’s marijuana market – including issues such as how many new competitors might enter and when.

“There’s an implementing bill that follows,” Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a legalization supporter, said at the Friday news conference.

“And there’s going to be a lot of consternation and complaints about how narrow it is and how many guardrails are put in place.”

How operators are proceeding

Facing uncertainty about what that bill might contain – and when it might pass – some Florida-licensed cannabis operators are delaying ambitious expansion plans, for now.

“I’ve got all the plans in place; we’ve got expansion sites teed up,” Brady Cobb, the founder and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based Sunburn Cannabis, which operates 14 stores, told MJBizDaily.

“I’m ready to hit the button.”

Cobb noted, however, that he is waiting to see the Florida Legislature’s plan for an adult-use market before triggering a large expenditure.

“The real work starts once we walk into Tallahassee for the implementation session,” he said.

In the meantime, there’s still a campaign to win.

New business opportunities?

Uncertainty about the future for current Florida license holders runs counter to DeSantis’ narrative that Amendment 3 is a monopoly play.

However, some observers believe existing MMTCs will leverage political influence to defend their current positions.

Earlier this year, existing MSOs including Ayr Wellness, Green Thumb Industries and Verano Holdings Corp. founded a lobbying organization, the Florida Medical Marijuana Trade Association (FMMTA), to advocate for their interest at the state capitol.

And they’re not sharing their playbook quite yet.

Representatives for the FMMTA declined MJBizDaily requests for comment.

“I imagine that existing MMTCs will lobby fiercely to prevent new forms of licensees,” said Tallahassee-based attorney Seann Frazier, a partner at the Parker Hudson law firm.

“There’s a reason the biggest MMTCs have spent so much in support of the amendment, and it’s probably not to invite new competition.”

Such limits have been the target of past litigation, including an unsuccessful challenge to vertical integration and licensing caps in the state.

Lawsuits likely?

Many observers believe litigation is a near-certainty if Amendment 3 passes.

Under state law, health regulators are supposed to license four additional vertically integrated MMTCs for every 100,000 patients added to the state registry.

In 2023, state cannabis regulators accepted 73 applications for an additional 22 MMTC permits on top of the current statewide cap of 25.

However, they have yet to issue any, provide a timeline or offer an explanation for the delay.

There is “nothing” in Amendment 3 that “would prevent action on the dozens of MMTC applications that have been pending before the Department of Health for 16 months,” Frazier added.

“I cannot explain any valid basis for the government’s inaction on these applications.”

Opportunity hinges on lawmakers

A few eagle-eyed observers pointed to a section in state law that triggers a rewrite of the state’s cannabis statutes “6 months after the effective date of” any “constitutional amendment related to cannabis or marijuana.”

But instead of any scenario that foretells unregulated chaos or starting from scratch, most observers contacted by MJBizDaily believe Florida is likely to follow the example set last year by Ohio, where voters also legalized adult-use marijuana against the wishes of Republican majority lawmakers.

Rather than obstruct or defy voters’ will, elected officials allowed medical marijuana operators to begin serving the adult-use market while slowly working on follow-up legislation that would license some new businesses.

That seems to be a likely scenario in Florida, but the pending MMTC permits are major unfinished business.

Waiting for MMJ licenses

Jasmine Johnson is the CEO of Miami-headquartered Green Essence, a CBD company that’s also one of the 73 applicants to pay a $146,000 application fee and secure real estate in hopes of winning an MMTC license.

Whether or not Amendment 3 passes – and she hopes it does; she’s already cast an early “yes” ballot – Johnson would like that permit.

“We don’t have enough people in this space” to meet existing patient demand, Johnson told MJBizDaily.

But after the MMTC permits are finally issued, “I would not be against the issuance of new licenses,” she added.

“It’s time for a rebrand of the entire program.”

Chris Roberts can be reached at ch***********@mj********.com.