Florida Issues Final Order — 22 New Cannabis Companies to Enter the Florida Market — Should be a Huge Positive for Most Florida Medical Marijuana Patients

What Happened

The Florida Department of Health (FL DOH) entered its Final Order on September 11, 2026, ending the application cycle that opened in April 2023. The licenses went to the Original Successful Applicants — the same 22 names identified in the November 2024 Notices of Intent to Award. The Department affirmed its original comparative scoring and declined the rescore that the ALJ's Recommended Order had proposed.

We covered the run-up to this order, including the ALJ proceedings and what the 180-day clock means, in our earlier report on the pending Final Order.

What Does It Mean for Consumers

• New market entrants — dispensaries possibly as early as the end of 2026, but more likely in 2027.
• More consumer choice and more product variety.
• Increased competition, which will likely put downward pressure on pricing.

The 22 Successful MMTC License Awardees

The comprehensive list is unchanged from November 2024, with the FL DOH affirming its original scoring:

• A Good Decision
• Alamanda Farms
• East Coast Packers
• FG Operating Florida
• Florida Sports Consultants (d/b/a Belushi's Farm Florida, backed by actor Jim Belushi)
• Gates Housing Group
• Global Investment Group (d/b/a Infinite Wellness)
• Green Point Research
• Healing Greene FL
• KCOF (d/b/a Klutch Cannabis)
• King Palms
• O'Donnell Landscapes
• Pioneer Growers of Florida
• Pure Beauty Farms
• RAAB (d/b/a Canna Direct)
• Star Buds Florida
• Statewide Property Holdings FL
• Stiiizy Florida (the nationally recognized retail brand)
• Sunfest Herbs
• The Flower Shop FL
• Theory Wellness of Florida (which achieved the top overall score in the initial evaluation phase)
• Wachovia Holdings (d/b/a Greenlight)

How We Got Here

• April 2023 — 74 applicants filed for vertically integrated MMTC licenses with the OMMU.
• November 2024 — OMMU issued 22 Notices of Intent to Award based on comparative scoring. Unsuccessful applicants challenged, triggering DOAH proceedings.
• October 2025 – January 2026 — a three-month evidentiary hearing before ALJ Mary Li Creasy on the Department's comparative scoring methodology.
• May 11, 2026 — the Recommended Order proposed a rescore that could have flipped some awards (ALJ MMTC Order — also readable here on FlaTCB).
• September 11, 2026 — DOH entered its Final Order after reviewing the Recommended Order and the parties' exceptions.

FL DOH Is Playing Catch-Up on Licenses the Statute Requires

Under Florida Statute § 381.986(8)(a)1 there is a strict statutory trigger that forces the state to issue new MMTC licenses based on the number of registered patients. The law treats the patient-to-license ratio as a stair-step scale — the patient growth trigger rule.

Within 60 days after the Medical Marijuana Use Registry (MMUR) hits 100,000 active, qualified patients, and for every subsequent 100,000-patient milestone after that, the FL DOH is required to issue four new MMTC licenses.

Because Florida's medical cannabis program grew rapidly to over 940,000 active cardholding patients, the law mathematically required the Department to release large batches of new licenses to catch up to the state's soaring patient population.

Appeal Risk

• Under § 120.68, Fla. Stat., adversely affected parties have 30 days to seek judicial review at Florida's First DCA.
• Expect some unsuccessful applicants to appeal and request a stay.
• A granted stay would affect timing, deal certainty, and diligence for anyone transacting around these licenses.

Compliance Deadlines Triggered by Final Agency Action

• 10 business days (by September 25, 2026) — post $5M financial assurance: a surety bond, an irrevocable letter of credit, or cash with the Department's Agency Clerk.
• 180 days — request cultivation authorization.
• 270 days — request processing authorization.
• 365 days — request dispensing authorization.

Action Items for Awardees

• Re-read the submitted application and confirm commitments on properties, vendors, staffing, and community impact — many date to 2022–23 and may no longer be viable.
• File variance requests immediately for anything that has changed.
• Confirm zoning and local approvals are current; re-engage local governments and letter-of-support signers.
• Update SOPs and the employee handbook, and build a training plan tied to the relevant compliance subsection.
• Line up cannabis-friendly insurance and other administrative vendors.

A Key Source

All credit to Sally Kent Peebles, Partner at Vicente LLP, for making us aware of the Final Order. She has spent the last 14 years of her practice focused solely on cannabis regulatory, real estate, licensing, and corporate matters across Florida, Colorado, Oregon, and beyond, and is born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, where she lives with her family. See her write-up of the Final Order.

Conclusion

This is the biggest change to the Florida marketplace since the initial awards of MMTC licenses. For patients it should mean more choice, more variety, and over time better pricing. For the incumbent MMTCs, competitive pressure is about to rise and market share will be harder to defend.