Florida’s medical marijuana market is now growing faster than analysts had originally thought. The path to a medical marijuana card in Florida is still not crystal clear, the new exam that physicians need to take to become certified to authorize medical marijuana cards still does not seem to be available. Despite the challenges the state is facing with its medical marijuana program, both the number of patients and certified physicians have grown substantially leading analysts to offer new growth projections.
Growth projections now are suggesting that Florida’s medical marijuana market could be worth more than $1 billion dollars by 2020. As awareness grows in Florida and the path to a medical marijuana card does become more clear, the number of patients and doctors should grow rapidly and then analysts will be able to offer new growth projections, especially if the retired Florida community accepts the pain management attributes of medical marijuana. Have you researched yet how to get a medical marijuana card?
Last year, Florida voters approved a pivotal expansion of the state’s highly restrictive medical marijuana program, a vital decision that has caused the system to rapidly bloom. While lawmakers have tried to keep legislation as limited as possible, their hesitation has been thwarted by the exploding number of registered patients and doctors.
This rapid growth now has financial experts estimating that the expansion will help Florida’s medical marijuana market to surpass $1 billion by 2020. The colossal estimate comes on the heels of the increasing number of doctors and patients registering to partake in the broadened system. There are now over 1,200 physicians signed up to recommend medical marijuana to patients, and the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana is approving about 20 of these licenses per day.
As for the amount of patients opting to join the bustling ranks of registered medical pot users, that number has nearly doubled from 16,760 to 31,051 since the program was expanded. In fact, growth has been so exponential that Governor Rick Scott signed a law enforcing a 90-day waiting period between visiting the doctor and obtaining a medical marijuana card.
Florida is the third most populated state in the country, and also has a hefty portion of senior citizens throughout the peninsula. The Sunshine State’s cannabis market is positioning itself to serve a vast amount of registered patients, which is expected to quickly climb to around 500,000. Still, dispensaries have struggled to match the rapid increase of patients and doctors, but pot shops are slowly popping up across the state.
Despite the mounting popularity surrounding the medical cannabis system, dispensaries will play a vital role in the success of the market. The law states that medical marijuana patients are not allowed to grow their own crops, leaving them dependent on others for treatment.
Although financial experts have surmised massive success for Florida’s pot market, their estimate may not account for potential pitfalls that could spring from anti-cannabis lawmakers. However, that bright and shiny $1 billion mark might just be enough to get officials fully behind the expansion, making money for the state and life easier for patients at the same time.