Florida adds 10,000 medical marijuana patients since early June

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Florida has added more than 10,000 patients to its medical marijuana registry in the past month and a half – a clear indicator of the potential size of the state’s market and how quickly it could expand.

The total patient pool is now just shy of 27,000, Orlando TV station News13 reported. That’s an increase of more than 10,000 from June 7, when the registry was at 16,760 patients.

As the patient pool grows, so do business opportunities.

Under a law enacted in June, Florida will allow four additional business licenses when the patient count hits 100,000 and four more for each additional 100,000 patients.

The law also calls for the licensing of 10 additional vertically integrated MMJ businesses by October 2017, on top of the existing seven licensed businesses. Each license holder can operate 25 dispensaries.

However, the law doesn’t allow for smokable medical marijuana, which prompted a lawsuit by a prominent Florida MMJ advocate.