The new year brings new business moves, and Trulieve (CNSX: TRUL), the largest cannabis provider operating in Florida, recently signed an agreement to provide marijuana edibles to patients in the state eligible for medical marijuana.
Trulieve made the agreement with Binske (silent “e”), a company based in Colorado. Through the newly inked deal, items including chocolate, granola bars, honey and even fruit leather will be available with infusions of marijuana.
Binske focuses on offering an “experience” through their products, and this opportunity will now be expanded to provide relief for Florida patients from various medical ailments covered under the state’s medical marijuana program.
The Binske CEO noted that progress is rapid for medical marijuana in Florida, and the company hopes to help “light the match” for forward momentum.
The Florida medical cannabis program currently serves more than 162,000 patients, all of whom will be eligible to purchase the edibles once they become available in state. The process of introducing these new products also requires regulatory approvals from the state, which can take some time.
Neither company offered an expected timetable for when these products will hit shelves, but the agreement does mean that Trulieve will have sole authority to market the edibles within Florida state borders.
Contrary to recent moves in other states, Florida has not made any effort to regulate edibles or their packaging since medical marijuana was legalized two years ago. Therefore, the process to approve these products for sale in Florida may be more time-consuming than the company expects.
However, the reluctance to address this area of neglect may have left with outgoing Governor Ron DeSantis. The newly elected Democratic Agriculture Commissioner, Nikki Fried, has already shown a strong support of marijuana legislation and has noted that edibles regulations are something her team is ready and willing to implement now that she is in office and hard at work.
Trulieve operates 23 dispensaries within the state of Florida, which is roughly one-fourth of the 83 total that make products available to patients across the southern state. Meanwhile, Trulieve handles two-thirds of the marijuana sales to Florida medical patients in need.
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