Janelle Irwin Taylor
A California-based medical marijuana dispensary has temporarily closed five of its eight Florida locations.
MedMen listed temporary closures on its website effective Sunday.
Locations are shuttered in Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Orlando, Sarasota and Tallahassee. Three stores in Pensacola, St. Petersburg and West Palm Beach remain open, according to the company’s website.
The closure notifications on each location’s website offered limited information.
“MedMen … is temporarily closed effective Sunday May 3rd. Thank you for your patience and support, please check back for updates on MedMen.com.”
It’s not clear whether the closures are related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or if they will affect six other stores the company plans to open throughout the state in Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, downtown and Southside Jacksonville, Miami Beach or Orlando.
A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, the company has been doing well despite the pandemic.
The company had its best month in the state in April, according to Politico, with 123,817 ounces of medical cannabis flower sold, which was a 52% increase from January sales before the pandemic hit.
The company shows some evidence of decline with its former CEO Adam Bierman resigning in January and director for government affairs for the Southeast U.S., Nick Hansen, left at the end of March.
The company, despite rapid growth in the state, had been spending heavily on the Make It Legal Florida ballot initiative with more than $6.1 million in direct and in-kind contributions to the committee behind a push for adult-use cannabis in Florida.
That campaign would have legalized cannabis for adult use regardless of medical need by requiring sales to be conducted in already existing medical marijuana storefronts, a move that would have been lucrative for companies such as MedMen. However, that push was sullied when the campaign failed to get enough petitions to make the 2020 ballot and pushed efforts back to 2022.
MedMen has not made a contribution to the campaign since the end of February when it provided $5,000 in in-kind contributions for staffing.
The last time the company cut a check to the campaign was mid-December.
The campaign halted its 2020 effort in mid-January.
6 comments
Andy
May 4, 2020 at 4:31 pm
It’s regrettable that what was probably a large investment of money and time has been lost. However, that is the predictable outcome when “betting on a horse” that is a mere chimera.
“Medical” marijuana indeed. It is more reminiscent of “…just a man who makes potions in the traveling show; I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do…”
Irrespective of the politicians (and the portly lawyer), and growers who seek financial gain from all of this, everybody else needs to come to their collective senses. If rational adults want to use marijuana for analogous reasons that other rational adults use alcohol (like relaxation over a weekend), that’s one thing–as long as those intoxicated by either one are treated the same way in civil and criminal contexts.
But please, quit the “medical” crap. Bell’s 12 Y/O Scotch is nice, too, but it’s not medicine. Be intellectually honest with yourselves and others.
Chad Fergeson
May 5, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Hey Andy,
For a lot of people it is medicine and some just want to feel good. Either way, who are you to judge.
You have the right to into a store and buy your scotch, and most Americans still don’t have the right to just walk into a store and buy cannabis with out a doctors recommendation, sort of hypocritical don’t you think?
Cannabis has been clinically proven to help people sleep, eat, relieve nausea from chemo, decrease opioid use….stop being ignorant and educate yourself.
NanaBanana
May 6, 2020 at 1:31 pm
I call it miracle medical marijuana! I had to use a cane, walker and wheelchair. I no longer have to. I use to cry at night due to severe pain, I now sleep. Thank you to all that have an understanding heart 💓. Yes, someone gains from growing, etc..but those who make alcohol does also. I gained benefits from the product. Question- How much did big pharma companies gain from opioids…etc.
Your mom
May 5, 2020 at 10:22 am
You’re uneducated and stuck in the stone age. Read a book and get a clue.
Hope no one you love ever gets cancer and needs cannabis just to eat.
Go away with your scientifically false OPINION and learn some facts.
David Lipps
May 7, 2020 at 8:44 am
Get out of the Nixon era. As a Nurse who sees end stage patients, I Can attest to the benefits of Marijuana as treatment.
The big issue is that some patients cannot afford healthcare and the visits to a physician to obtain a “card” It is expensive.
Why not just decriminalize and let the dispensary sell to all.
We would still have regulations from the health dept and mandatory controls but lessen the cost burden on those without insurance
Don’t forget the taxation. Now more than ever we need funds into our economy
Millions in collected taxes from the sell of MJ which will lower my taxes, sounds like a win win to me
Andre Leonard
May 7, 2020 at 3:21 pm
Smart states have gone full blown legalization of marijuana. Playing the medicinal marijuana game is just plain stupid. The permitting process and paperwork requirements alone will strangle anyone.
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