By: Sally Kent Peebles • September 15, 2026
On September 11, 2026, the Florida Department of Health announced its Final Order, officially closing the April 2023 Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) application process and granting 22 new licenses. Whether you’re a winning applicant, a denied applicant, or an investor watching this space, here’s how the state got here and what the next 10 to 180 days require.
Florida’s MMTC Licensing Process and How We Got Here
In 2023, over 70 applicants submitted comprehensive MMTC applications to the Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) in hopes of winning a vertically integrated MMTC license. In November 2024, the OMMU subsequently issued 22 Notices of Intent to Award to specific applicants based on comparative scoring of those applications (the “Original Successful Applicants”).
In what has become standard in a process this competitive, several unsuccessful applicants exercised their right to challenge those preliminary decisions, triggering formal administrative proceedings before the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH).
A three-month evidentiary hearing ran from October 2025 through January 2026 before Administrative Law Judge Mary Li Creasy, addressing how the Department’s comparative scoring methodology was applied across the competing applications. On May 11, 2026, Judge Creasy issued her Recommended Order, proposing a rescore that could have resulted in some initially unsuccessful applicants receiving an MMTC license and some Original Successful Applicants being denied one.
From there, the matter returned to the Department of Health, which reviewed the Recommended Order, along with exceptions filed by several parties, before entering its Final Order last Friday. In the Final Order, the Department of Health issued licenses to the Original Successful Applicants and ultimately declined to accept the ALJ’s recommendations issued in May.
What the Final Order Means for Florida MMTC Licenses
Under Section 120.68, Florida Statutes, any party adversely affected by this Final Order has 30 days from entry to seek judicial review with Florida’s First District Court of Appeal. Given how contested this cycle was, we would expect at least some of the unsuccessful applicants to explore that option and request a stay. If a stay is requested and granted, that would have real implications for timing, deal certainty, and diligence for anyone transacting around one of these licenses right now.
The Final Order is the “Final Agency Action” which triggers certain compliance deadlines:
- Within 10 business days of licensure (by September 25, 2026), the 22 newly licensed MMTCs must post $5 million in financial assurance via a surety bond, an irrevocable letter of credit, or cash with the Department’s Agency Clerk.
- Within 180 calendar days of licensure, an MMTC shall request cultivation authorization
- Within 270 calendar days of licensure, an MMTC shall request processing authorization.
- Within 365 calendar days of licensure, an MMTC shall request dispensing authorization.
Compliance Steps Florida MMTC Awardees Should Take Now
Many of the 22 applications were developed based on commitments from 2022 and 2023, which may involve vendors, properties, and team members that are no longer accessible or affordable years later. For MMTC awardees, the following action is recommended:
- Re-read the submitted application and confirm exactly what commitments were made on properties, vendors, staffing and community impact.
- File variance requests immediately for anything that has changed, including properties, vendors or operational plans that no longer match the original application.
- Confirm zoning and local approvals are still current and re-engage local governments or letter-of-support signers now that the license is moving forward.
- Update SOPs and employee handbook and build a training plan tied to the relevant compliance subsection.
- Line up cannabis-friendly insurance and other administrative vendors.
Sally Kent Peebles is a partner at Vicente LLP and has spent the last 14 years of her practice focusing solely on cannabis regulatory, real estate, licensing, and corporate matters across Florida, Colorado, Oregon, and beyond. She is born and raised in Jacksonville, FL where she lives with her family.
Florida Grants 22 New Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) Licenses: What Happens Next