Appeals judge criticizes Florida officials for not granting more medical marijuana licenses

Florida has 22 medical-marijuana operators. A 2017 law, which created a framework for the state’s medical-marijuana industry, required the Department of Health to grant new licenses as the number of authorized patients increases. With more than 700,000 patients, the state should have issued at least another 22 licenses to keep up with the population of patients. But the DeSantis administration has left the application process in limbo since the governor took office in 2019.