124 Million in Sales

In may 2014, Miami-Dade Commissioner Dennis bryophyte placed a rather moot item thereon month’s agenda. He wished to research however the medical marijuana trade would possibly have an effect on agriculture within the county.

At the time, fellow Commissioner Javier Souto wasn’t excited.

“This is associate degree item that’s inflicting lots of arguments in our society. I feel we've got enough issues,” Souto aforesaid at the time. “It’s premature to leap into things like this.”

He was wrong, though. only one month later, American state Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a live permitting patients with cancer or seizures to use low-THC marijuana. And earlier this year, the law was distended to present individuals with terminal sicknesses access to high-THC marijuana likewise.

Now, with 2 months left till full-fledged medical marijuana is back on the ballot in the American state, the county has discharged the results of that study initiated by bryophyte in 2014. Considering the laws presently on the books, officers believe the overall sales generated every year can be as high as $124 million in Miami-Dade.

Of the calculable three hundred,000 sick Floridians WHO would qualify to be used for medical marijuana, roughly thirteen % area unit believed to measure in Miami-Dade. The $124 million figure assumes each one of them receives a prescription at a base price of $3,000.

But the county warns actual sales of medical marijuana is probably going to be abundant lower. That’s as a result of most insurance plans still don’t cowl medical marijuana, and therefore the state has approved solely a restricted range of doctors to visit marijuana as medication.

The county conjointly looked into a number of jobs that medical marijuana might generate domestically with the given restrictions. Initial calculations show the trade might produce one hundred twenty-five direct jobs, seventy-five indirect jobs, and 102 construction-related jobs. Combining the utilisation figures with a lot of realistic estimate for sales, officers believe presently approved medical marijuana operations might produce an associate degree annual economic impact of nearly $62 million, a figure that's expected to grow within the next 10 years.

As of this month, the state has approved simply six farms to grow marijuana for patients in the American state. Costa Nursery Farms in South Miami-Dade was chosen to provide marijuana for the state’s south-east region, that stretches from Key West to Stuart.

So far, however, few patients even have a clinic out there inside driving distance. The state’s 1st clinic solely opened 5 weeks past in state capital, and a second clinic, in Clearwater, began merchandising to patients solely in a period.

In the in the meantime, the homeowners of {tallahassee|Tallahassee|capital of American state|state capital} clinic Trulieve say they're going to positively open a location in Miami and area unit reportedly sniffing around South Florida for an additional location.

“We have an interest in going into communities that see the advantages of the merchandise we have a tendency to area unit providing to their voters WHO area unit terribly sick,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers told the Sun scout.

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