Florida Medical Cannabis Collective: 08.20.2019 Update – Industry Update, Flower Overview

It’s been just over 1 month since our last industry update. Overall, growth and expansion seem to be continuing at a steady rate. Flower availability continues to increase as dispensaries are able to keep better stock and a wider selection of strains and various products. The market is finally beginning to resemble that of a developed medical cannabis market – at least with respect to the fact that whole flower is now (almost) widely available.

State of the Florida Cannabis Industry: August 20, 2019

Qualified Patients (Active ID Card): 266,256 

Total Patients: 346,089

Numbers above provided as of the latest OMMU Update – 08.16.2019.

It’s been just over 4 months since SB 182 passed and allowed Florida dispensaries to sell smokable cannabis flower. Since our last update, the supply issues have continued to improve.

Trulieve is still the main supplier of medical marijuana in the state by a long shot: they delivered over four times as many milligrams of medical marijuana, and more than double the amount of smokable flower, as the nearest competitor (Curaleaf) as of the August 16 OMMU update. As I’ve mentioned before, I expect Trulieve to hold this lead for some time – possibly as long as vertical integration is upheld in the Florida cannabis industry. However, the space between them and their competitors will continue to gradually shrink as other MMTCs expand their operations and storefront locations.

All Florida MMTCs (except for Columbia Care) now offer flower, and have been offering it for some time.

The Panhandle (particularly the western portion) continues to be the most underserved area in the state, due a host of factors, namely the unfriendly political climate towards cannabis in those areas. Being that we are located in the western Panhandle, we truly hope to see access continue to expand here – and throughout the state, of course.  

Brief Overview of each MMTC’s Flower

Top 3 Suppliers of Flower in Florida (by number of oz. sold as of last OMMU update):

1. Trulieve – 4,222.223
2. Curaleaf – 1,738.536
3. Liberty Health Sciences: 1,673.222

Trulieve

Trulieve has offered flower for the longest amount of time, and has had high quality flower available for nearly a year now. However, notably in the past couple of months, the consistency of high quality cures has improved. It seems that the Quality Assurance for the grow/cure departments has really dialed in on how to get more out of each batch of flower. The one factor that could still consistently be improved is the trimming: many different strains have had small sugar leaves left behind lately. This attention to detail is what will separate superior, top-shelf flower from “just” good flower.

While Trulieve was previously plagued with issues surrounding their stock and online ordering system in the weeks leading up to our last update in July, investment in upgrades to the Point-of-Sale and employee/operations training has helped make a significant improvement in these areas.

In my opinion, Trulieve also has the best customer service in the Florida cannabis industry, which I believe has been a big factor in their holding a firm lead of the industry – especially when coupled with their consistently high quality products.

Curaleaf

As evidenced in the last OMMU update, Curaleaf is making a run for the #2 MMTC in Florida in terms of the amount of cannabis dispensed.

It seems that since our last update, many Curaleaf locations have been keeping better stock of their flower. According to reviews on Reddit, the quality of the flower appears to be on a steady upward trend as well. With over 20 locations now open, as well as many out-of-state operations to learn from, we believe we will see Curaleaf’s presence in the Florida industry begin to increase over the course of the next year.

RiSE

Not much has changed since our last update regarding RiSE holding their reputation for having the best flower in Florida. It seems that almost every day, a patient is on the Florida Medical Trees subreddit to rave about the quality of their latest RiSE flower pickup.

With 5 dispensing locations now open, RiSE is beginning to expand its storefront and delivery presence a little more. We hope to see them in the Panhandle soon to see what all the hype is about!

GrowHealthy

With 6 locations open, GrowHealthy has expanded access, mainly in South Florida. Flower stock continues to be very limited from what we are seeing on Reddit, and the OMMU update also seems to confirm this, showing just over 360 ounces of flower dispensed from GrowHealthy last week – a much smaller number in comparison to Trulieve & Curaleaf.

GrowHealthy also suffers from missteps in their management and operations structure. Another confusing price/discount change over the last month has many patients boycotting the MMTC entirely, referring to them as “GrowShady” online across various social media.

Hopefully, their corporate management will get their act together, and allow for a fair and transparent pricing and discount system that stays consistent for more than a month at a time. The quality product is there – now the management needs to follow.

VidaCann

Many patients have noticed a complete lack of flower stock at VidaCann locations throughout the state since our last update. Flower has been absent form their online site for nearly 2 months now.

VidaCann has finally clarified why this happened in a great example of transparency. In an email to me on 08.14.2019, they gave the following statement:

“The heat and humidity have delayed our flower production. We’re in the process of not only expanding our cultivation facility by 200% but also improving our dehumidification systems. For the next couple months we will be releasing small amounts of flower that meets our quality standards and it will be consistent again in the fall. We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience.”

Massive kudos to VidaCann for being completely honest. It appears that they have “started from scratch” with their flower production. We look forward to seeing more of their flower in the coming months, as it truly was/is some of the best quality flower in the Florida industry.

MUV (Altmed Florida)

 MUV went through its own apparent flower shortage a couple of months ago – we referenced this in last month’s industry update.

It appears that those days are behind us now, as MUV has taken 4th place in the amount of whole flower dispensed as of last week’s OMMU update, with over 600 ounces of flower dispensed.

All indications from social media reviews are that MUV continues to offer high quality flower, and many newer strains that we haven’t seen at any of the other MMTCs.

Liberty Health Sciences

With the most affordable cannabis flower in the Florida industry (eighths are priced from $25-28), Liberty Health Sciences have made a definitive footprint throughout the state, as evidenced by their #3 position in the “Top 3 suppliers of flower in Florida” list above.

There have been a few notable concerns of quality control at LHS, namely both mold and spider mites being reported on a few batches of their flower over the last month. However, social media postings indicate that LHS has taken the steps to get rid of the contaminated stock, and other posts show that the overall quality of their flower is improving with time.

Fluent

Fluent has upheld its reputation for having extremely high quality flower over the past month – if you are lucky enough to get it. With just over 36 ounces – or about 2.3 pounds – of flower dispensed last week, Fluent actually provided the least amount of flower of any MMTC in Florida.

Hopefully, what now are only weekly or biweekly releases of flower (dubbed “Flower Fridays”), will become more frequent with time. We aren’t sure if this sporadic release of flower is a decision based on grow space, or if it is simply the direction Fluent wants to take – opting to focus on their oils and other products. Only time will tell. In the mean time, try to scoop an eighth if you can; the flower is great.

Surterra Wellness

Surterra continues to offer pre-rolls at select locations; the good news is that they have expanded the number of locations that offer them. They also removed a previous limit of 3 pre-rolls per patient per day, allowing for patients to stock up on this form of medication.

There have been no indications that Surterra is anywhere close to offering a loose flower product, though we did receive a few email surveys asking if we preferred pre-rolls or whole flower, among other questions.

We believe that the majority of patients want whole flower products, and that offering whole flower would bring many more patients, who might not have otherwise, to visit Surterra. Bring on the whole flower!

Harvest

With all of their flower options priced at $35/eighth, Harvest is another one of the most affordable options for cannabis flower in Florida.

Reviews online have been mixed to generally good. Most complaints lie with the smell/terpenes; while most patients indicate that they enjoy the effects (even with lower THC options), the most common gripe seems to be the (lack 0f) smell in most strains, or even a “hay” like smell in some batches.

As with the other MMTCs, we expect that the flower quality will only improve with time. It is promising to see lower priced flower options; they are much needed, and will hopefully bring more competitive pricing from other MMTCs.

3 Boys Farm

3 Boys Farm is currently delivery-only in Florida, so a very limited number of patients have been able to try their flower. Interestingly, 3 Boys is the first Florida MMTC to offer flower before offering any other products.

Reviews online have raved about the quality of the flower. However, the MMTC has faced a bit of recent controversy regarding their opposition to home-grow in Florida – a political stance that has been closely watched by patients, and generally a good first indicator of just how much patient advocacy is really going on within each company.

With around 48 ounces (just over 3 pounds) of flower dispensed last week, 3 Boys still has a very limited delivery area and product availability. The reviews of their flower quality have been promising, though, and we look forward to being able to try them in the near future.

Just do us a favor – openly support home grow rather than oppose it. We tend to show the most support for MMTCs who make a true, visible effort to expand patient access and affordable medicine.

MedMen

Medmen has only begun to offer smokable flower products within the past month – since our last update in July, in fact.

With only 1 physical dispensary location in West Palm Beach, reviews of Medmen’s flower have been very limited. What we have seen online indicates that the quality is at least decent – and fairly affordable, with some prices of $40/eighth reported.

The one question that remains: Do they have Tegridy?

Closing Thoughts

Florida’s cannabis industry continues to grow at a steady rate, though it looks like some of the surge of growth after the passage of SB 182 may be beginning to taper off. This will only help improve patient access and product availability as the various MMTCs are able to expand their operations and catch up to the demand.

The one major factor that continues to hinder the Florida market is vertical integration, and that is what we will be closely watching over the next few months. Florida lawmakers have been giving some mixed signals about their support of the vertical integration requirement, so it feels as everything is a bit “up in the air” at this point.

Otherwise, the overall experience for Florida cannabis patients continues to improve. Stay tuned to the Florida Medical Cannabis Collective website and social media in order to keep up-to-date with all the latest developments and changes to the industry that affect you.

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