FLORIDA CANNABIS RETAIL MARKET UPDATE – APRIL 2026
Florida cannabis retail April 2026 is running two tracks at once: municipalities using opt-out authority to close their markets while multistate companies quietly add locations across the state. Eustis just slammed the door shut on new dispensaries. Meanwhile, Curaleaf hit 72 Florida stores, MUV reached 84, and Trulieve opened at least two new locations in March. At the same time, the OMMU is filing rule changes that will affect how MMTCs operate from supply chain to marketing. Here is what moved this month.
Top Headlines This Month
- 🏛️ Eustis bans all MMTC dispensaries under new ordinance
- 📋 OMMU files rule changes on delivery, harvest, and wholesale
- 🏪 Curaleaf opens Cape Coral, hits 72 Florida dispensaries
- 🏪 MUV Lehigh Acres opens, Verano reaches 84 Florida locations
- ⚖️ Proposed authorization deadlines could compress MMTC timelines
🏛️ EUSTIS: ORDINANCE 2026-20 BANS ALL MMTC DISPENSARIES CITYWIDE
The City Commission of Eustis, Florida reportedly adopted Ordinance 2026-20 on April 16, 2026, prohibiting Medical Marijuana Treatment Center dispensing facilities across all land use districts, categories, and development designations within city limits. The ordinance invokes Florida Statutes Section 381.986(11)(b), the state opt-out provision that allows municipalities to ban dispensaries by ordinance. Any facility lawfully operating before the April 16 effective date may continue as a legal nonconforming use but cannot expand or intensify operations. No new MMTC dispensing facilities will be approved through any permit pathway, including conditional use, special exception, or variance.
This is a direct retail market contraction in Lake County. Eustis exits the Florida cannabis retail site-selection pipeline entirely, and any prospective locations under review there are now off the table. Demand that would have gone to Eustis may shift to neighboring jurisdictions in Lake County.
📋 STATEWIDE: OMMU FILES RULE CHANGES AFFECTING FLORIDA CANNABIS RETAIL OPERATIONS
The Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use filed proposed rule amendments in early April 2026 covering three operational areas: delivery devices, harvest failures, and wholesale transfers. The changes update specifications and handling requirements for delivery devices, introduce new protocols for crop failure reporting, and amend documentation and transaction procedures for wholesale transfers. A separate earlier proposal, Rules 64-4.216 and 64-4.223, would impose binding authorization deadlines on new MMTCs: cultivation authorization within 180 days of licensure, processing within 270 days, and dispensing within 365 days. Caregiver background screening requirements are also included in that proposal. None of these rules are finalized; all are pending public comment and adoption.
Taken together, these filings signal the OMMU is tightening operational oversight across the Florida cannabis retail supply chain. If adopted, the 180/270/365-day authorization timeline would compress go-to-market windows for new licensees and set hard deadlines that did not previously exist in rule.
🏪 LEE COUNTY: CURALEAF OPENS CAPE CORAL, EXPANDS FLORIDA DISPENSARY FOOTPRINT
Curaleaf opened a new dispensary at 345 SW 10th Pl in Cape Coral on March 26, 2026, bringing its Florida total to 72 locations. The Cape Coral store is in Lee County, the same county where Verano’s MUV brand opened a new location in Lehigh Acres on March 20, 2026, pushing MUV’s Florida count to 84 and Verano’s nationwide dispensary total to 161. Both openings happened within the same one-week window, making Lee County one of the most active Florida cannabis retail expansion zones in Q1 2026.
Two major multistate companies adding stores in the same county within days of each other reflects real competitive density building in Southwest Florida. Lee County is becoming a meaningful test of how concentrated Florida’s medical cannabis market can get before stores begin competing for the same patient base.
🏪 CENTRAL FLORIDA: TRULIEVE OPENS MULTIPLE LOCATIONS ACROSS REGION
Trulieve opened a new medical cannabis dispensary in Lake Wales, Polk County, on March 13, 2026, at 1341 State Road 60 E. The company also opened a location in DeLand, Volusia County, in March 2026, and a sign at the former Belleview Pizza site in Belleview, Marion County, indicates a third buildout is underway directly across from Belleview City Hall on the city’s main commercial corridor. The Belleview location has not announced an opening date. These openings follow a visible pattern of Trulieve converting high-traffic established retail sites near civic centers in smaller Central Florida markets.
Trulieve is adding depth in markets outside Florida’s major metros, targeting county seats and mid-size municipalities where patient density exists but competition is lower. Three new or prospective Central Florida locations in one month signals an accelerated rollout pace from the company this quarter.
The Bottom Line
Florida cannabis retail in April 2026 is defined by a split market dynamic: municipalities like Eustis are closing off using state opt-out authority while Curaleaf, Verano, and Trulieve collectively added five or more locations in a single month. Pending OMMU rule changes on supply chain operations and authorization timelines will add compliance structure to a market that keeps growing despite local restriction pockets. The gap between open and closed jurisdictions is widening, and that gap is shaping where Florida cannabis retail development activity concentrates.
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