Can You Get a Marijuana Grower’s License in Florida?

Can you get a license just to grow cannabis in Florida? No. Florida runs a strictly controlled medical marijuana sector and has no separate marijuana grower’s license: only licensed medical marijuana treatment centers may grow marijuana, and each license covers growing, processing, transporting and dispensing under s. 381.986, Florida Statutes; patients and caregivers may not grow it at home.

Understanding Florida’s Marijuana Laws

Florida sets the rules for medical marijuana cultivation in s. 381.986, Florida Statutes, and the Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) oversees the licensed treatment centers. Florida medical marijuana laws pair patient access with controls on product quality, patient safety and responsible distribution.

To understand the marijuana grow license in Florida better, we must first look at legal status and regulations. Our post on heat stress in cannabis plants explains the signs licensed growers in Florida watch for.

Medical Marijuana in Florida: Legal Status and Regulations

Florida introduced medical marijuana specifically to fulfill patient healthcare needs, which brought about new treatment possibilities for qualified medical patients. Voters approved Amendment 2 on November 8, 2016 with 71.3% of the vote, and the Legislature set the program’s rules in s. 381.986, Florida Statutes.

The program is large: the OMMU’s weekly update of October 16, 2026 counted 942,952 qualified patients with an active ID card.

Multiple levels of regulatory compliance requirements exist in this environment because of the law:

1. Precise patient qualification and registration processes
2. Seed-to-sale tracking of marijuana in the state’s system
3. Strict security protocols for cultivation and dispensation facilities
4. Regular reporting and transparency requirements
5. Required training for staff who dispense or deliver marijuana

Each of these duties is set out in s. 381.986, Florida Statutes, and the Department of Health publishes rules that fill in the details.

Who Can Grow Marijuana in Florida?

Only licensed medical marijuana treatment centers may grow marijuana in Florida. Patients and caregivers may not grow their own, and the Department of Health licenses only applicants that meet s. 381.986, Florida Statutes.

Under s. 381.986, Florida Statutes, an applicant needs:

• Registration to do business in Florida for the 5 consecutive years before applying
• Level 2 background screening for every owner and manager, and employees who are all 21 or older
• Certified financial statements showing it can operate for the 2-year approval cycle
• The technical ability to cultivate and produce marijuana, including low-THC cannabis
• A nursery certificate of registration from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

The Department of Health licenses only applicants that meet every one of these conditions. You can see every licensed treatment center, and the stage each one has reached, on the Florida Department of Health MMTC page.

Types of Marijuana Cultivation Licenses in Florida

Florida does not issue a stand-alone marijuana grow license. The state’s licensing system has one pathway: a single treatment center license that covers every stage, from growing to dispensing.

One Cultivation License Type: The Treatment Center License

Florida has one license type, the medical marijuana treatment center, which must cultivate, process, transport and dispense. Each treatment center must receive cultivation, processing and dispensing authorization before it may dispense to patients, the OMMU says. A treatment center generally may not contract out cultivation, processing or dispensing; the statute allows only narrow exceptions.

Under the vertical integration model license, producers need to prove operational competence in every sector of the cannabis business. The same licensee is responsible for the marijuana from planting until a patient’s order is filled. It must record that path in the Department of Health’s seed-to-sale tracking system, or connect its own tracking system to the state’s (s. 381.986(8)(d)).

Can Licensed Marijuana Cultivators Hold Other Cannabis Licenses?

Florida limits how many treatment center licenses one owner may hold. A treatment center, and anyone holding 5 percent or more of its voting shares, may not own or control another treatment center (s. 381.986(8)(e)2), so a licensee cannot simply add a second one.

How to Get a Marijuana Cultivation License in Florida

A treatment center application has to meet every item in s. 381.986(8)(b), Florida Statutes, from five consecutive years of registration to do business in Florida to a nursery certificate of registration from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Eligibility Requirements

An applicant also has to be ready for money, security and supply conditions:

• Requires a $5 million performance bond once approved, or $2 million after serving 1,000 patients
• Proof it can secure the premises, resources and staff needed to operate
• Security staffing that meets the premises rules in s. 381.986(8)(f), Florida Statutes
• Systems that account for all raw materials, products and byproducts to prevent diversion
• An infrastructure able to dispense to patients statewide or regionally

The number of licenses grows with the program: the statute calls for four more treatment center licenses within six months of each additional 100,000 active qualified patients. Every new applicant has to meet the same list.

Application Process

The Department of Health checks each application against the statute’s list, from the nursery certificate to the performance bond. The Department of Health looks for certified financial statements that cover the 2-year approval cycle and for the technical ability to cultivate and produce marijuana. In Florida, getting a grower’s license means getting a treatment center license, and the financial side comes next.

Costs and Financial Considerations

Growing marijuana commercially in Florida is expensive, and license fees are only one part of the cost: an approved applicant must also post a $5 million performance bond (section 381.986(8)(b), Florida Statutes). Future growers should create advanced funding plans that cover both substantial setup costs and the continuous expenses of running operations.

How Much Do Marijuana Cultivation Licenses Cost?

License application and renewal fees are set by Department of Health rule, so check the current OMMU notice before budgeting, and plan separately for the cost of secure facilities. Dispensing sites have their own building rules: each indoor location needs a waiting area with seating and at least one private consultation area, kept apart from the waiting and dispensing areas.

Other Startup Costs and Financial Planning

Several duties in s. 381.986 carry running costs that a plan has to cover:

1. Laboratory testing of processed marijuana before it is dispensed
2. Paying the security staff that the growing rules below require
3. Software that connects to the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system
4. Training for staff who dispense, transport or deliver marijuana
5. A secured, locked room or vault for stored marijuana

Starting a Medical Marijuana Cultivation Business in Florida

With financing secured, the next step is the MMTC license application itself.

Applying for a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) License

An MMTC application must meet the requirements listed above, including 5 consecutive years of registration to do business in Florida.

Cultivation, Processing, and Compliance Standards

Once licensed, a treatment center must test processed marijuana at a medical marijuana testing laboratory before dispensing it, and train the employees and volunteers who dispense on the legal requirements (s. 381.986(8)(e)).

Growing Requirements for Licensed Cultivators in Florida

Growing must happen under the licensee’s security duties, with at least two of its employees, or two employees of a contracted security agency, on the premises at all times where marijuana is grown, processed or stored (s. 381.986(8)(f)6). That marijuana is then traced in the seed-to-sale record described above, and the testing and labeling rules below cover its quality.

Processing Requirements and Product Regulations

Each product a treatment center makes has to meet the state’s testing and labeling rules. Edibles, for example, may hold no more than 10 mg of THC per serving and 200 mg in total, and may not look like candy, cartoons, people or animals (s. 381.986(8)(e), Florida Statutes).

Once licensed, the treatment center must also give staff who transport or deliver marijuana specific safety and security training (s. 381.986(8)(g)6). Before it may dispense, each licensee must receive three separate authorizations: cultivation, processing and dispensing.

Summary: Who May Grow Marijuana in Florida

In short, Florida issues no stand-alone marijuana Grower’s License: growing marijuana is allowed only under a treatment center license, and the OMMU listed 49 of those when we read its list on October 9, 2026, 25 of them with dispensing authorization. Growing marijuana professionally in Florida takes more than farming skill: a treatment center must also meet the statute’s security, testing and recordkeeping duties.

For patients, the result is a single legal source: a qualified patient may obtain marijuana only from a licensed treatment center (s. 381.986(8)(j)). People who work in medical marijuana must understand the process to dispense low-THC cannabis and follow state regulatory requirements accurately.

Last updated October 16, 2026 by the Dr. Green Relief Editorial Team.

Sources

• Florida Statutes, section 381.986 (2026)
• Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use, Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers
• Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use, Rules and Regulations
• Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use, weekly update, October 16, 2026
• Florida Division of Elections, November 8, 2016 amendment results