MedMen Enterprises opened its first Florida dispensary in West Palm Beach as the cannabis company plans to light up the Sunshine State.
Los Angeles-based MedMen is focusing on Florida, opening a 7,550-square-foot medical marijuana dispensary at 539 Clematis Street in downtown West Palm. The company is focusing its growth this year on Florida. Out of the 15 dispensaries it expects to open in 2019, 12 are in Florida, according to CNN.
Florida started to allow for regulated medical marijuana sales in 2017, but the state recently loosened its medical marijuana laws to allow for the sale of smokable cannabis.
A report released earlier this year showed that MedMen did not have “sufficient funds generated from operations” to cover its short- and long-term needs, and needed to find more financing. But in March, it secured a $100 million loan from cannabis industry lender Gotham Green Partners to fund the new openings.
MedMen, one of the bigger marijuana dispensary firms in the country, is one of 14 licensed operators in Florida and can open up to 35 dispensaries in the state, a cap that expires next April.
The private equity-backed marijuana company is suing the city of Miami Beach, alleging the municipality violated state law when the city commission adopted an ordinance in February that prohibits two or more dispensaries from being located within 1,200 feet of one another. MedMen executed a lease deal in Miami Beach based on assurances from city administrators that the property fell within an area zoned for medical marijuana dispensaries, the lawsuit states. [CNN] — Katherine Kallergis