10:00

PM EDT October 26, 2017 Jordan Ferrell

Trulieve marijuana dispensary opens in

Gainesville
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A Tallahassee-based medical marijuana company
further expanded operations this week, opening its doors to patients in
Alachua County.

Trulieve’s newest dispensary is the second one to open in Gainesville

this year. Knox Medical, a Winter Garden-based medical marijuana
treatment center (MMTC), rst opened its doors in the college town
back in May.

Trulieve will hold a grand opening for the new dispensary on Friday at
1527 Northwest 6th Street in Gainesville. The new location is expected
to o er a variety of low and high-THC products, available in various
deliverable forms, consistent with other Trulieve dispensaries.

“Our goal is to be everywhere where there is a population of patients,”

said Victoria Walker, Trulieve community relations spokesperson.
“We’ve been delivering to Gainesville for some time now and our
patients are not shy about telling us where they would like us to be.”

This will be the 11th medical marijuana dispensary Trulieve has opened
in Florida since July of last year. Currently, the company leads its
competitors in the brick and mortar race, with storefronts in
Bradenton, Clearwater, Edgewater, Jacksonville, Miami, Pensacola, St.
Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa, Lady Lake and now, Gainesville.

Trulieve was the rst MMTC to open a dispensary in Duval County,

followed by Knox Medical shortly thereafter. The Jacksonville
storefront sees anywhere from 40 to 60 customers per day depending
on the week, according to Walker.

Read more: Jacksonville's rst marijuana dispensary begins to take

shape
“We’ve seen over 15,000 patients here in Florida, which is really
exciting and I think where you have more physicians in a town or in a
city, you’re going to have more patients,” said Walker.

Of the 1,043 physicians who are legally registered with the Florida
Department of Health, approximately 45 exist between Duval and
Alachua County. The number of registered patients in the state has
been exponentially increasing since the beginning of the year. As of
October, there are more than 47,000 patients, a sharp increase from
the 11,000 who were registered just six months ago.

Trulieve’s website lists an additional 15 future locations where the

company plans to open shop. Storefronts planned for Fort Myers and
Hollywood are currently under construction. Walker said a Trulieve
dispensary in North Fort Myers will most likely open next, followed by
one in Orlando.

“The more stores that we open, it just helps everybody,” Walker said.
“It helps the patients. It helps our relationship with the physicians in
the area who are recommending this product for patients and it helps
education.”

There are now 12 licensed medical marijuana companies in the State of

Florida, ve less than were required by Oct. 3, according to a bill
approved by Gov. Rick Scott in June. Senate Bill 8A also e ectively
capped licensed MMTCs to opening just 25 dispensaries statewide.

Half of the companies currently licensed under the vertically integrated

state system have yet to pass required authorization from the Florida
Department of Health to begin dispensing medical marijuana. A recent
licensee, Jacksonville-based Loop’s Nursery and Greenhouses, is one of
those companies.

Despite the sluggish rollout of new licenses and a burdensome

authorization process, companies like Trulieve are not waiting on the
FDOH to expand the marijuana marketplace.

“We’ve just had great response in the 10 cities we’ve been in so far,”
Walker said. “So, we hope to accomplish the same goal in Gainesville.”
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