Florida’s medical marijuana market continues to grow as more and more residents qualify for access.
Not only has the number of patients qualifying for medical marijuana increased in the last year, daily dose amounts ordered have, too, according to he Physician Certification Pattern Review 2023 Annual Report, which shows 546 million ounces of smokable marijuana was certified for patients between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.
In all there were 757,600 patients who qualified or were eligible for medical marijuana, according to the report. That’s a 25% increase in the number of qualified patients from the previous fiscal year. The vast majority of the patients in fiscal year (FY) 21-22, 728,655, have smoking certifications.
Certifications for medical marijuana use contain orders for the type of marijuana — low-THC or traditional — as well as the route of administration for the delivery — edible, inhalation, oral, smokable, sublingual, suppository, or topical. They contain orders with a maximum duration of 35 to 70 days depending on route of administration.
In FY 21-22 83% of certifications were issued by 17% of qualified physicians. Those physicians certified at least 1,000 patients. By contrast 43% of the physicians certified between one and 50 patients during the 12-month span under review, accounting for 1% of all certifications for the year.
Current certifications have a maximum duration of 210 days, or three consecutive 70-day orders (six consecutive 35-day…
