Ninth Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens in Miami-Dade

The revolution is here.

Knox Medical, one the state's largest medical marijuana companies and the only one based here, opened its first local dispensary about two weeks ago at 175 NW 167th St. in North Miami Beach. The company plans five stores in Miami-Dade County over the next couple of years, a Knox spokesman, Scott Klenet, said this morning.

The firm plans three more stores this year and at least one in 2020. A Kendall dispensary at 9611 SW 88th St.
is set to start operation this spring. Locations in Cutler Bay, at 11245 SW 211th St., and South Beach, at 1439 Alton Rd., will open this summer. And by early next year, even Coral Gables will have one, at 5827 SW Bird Rd.

"We are really excited to be coming home," Klenet said, "and opening up stores in Miami-Dade."

New governor Ron DeSantis has hinted recently that smokable marijuana, which so far is forbidden in the state, may soon be available — or at least Florida will drop the push to continue prohibition of its use. Miami, which now boasts nine dispensaries, has become a center of the trade. There are dozens of shops here that also sell low-THC cannabidiol products from hemp, which are legal and have medicinal properties similar to pot but do not provide a high.

Several lawsuits have been filed that could widen the group of companies involved in the trade. And John Morgan, the Tampa attorney who pushed for approval of medical marijuana, has pledged to get recreational pot on the state ballot in 2020.
Klenet noted that Knox, which has headquarters at 26th Street and North Miami Avenue in Wynwood, was one of the first companies to be licensed statewide and has been delivering in the area since 2017. The firm also delivers medical-related cannabis in several other states and Puerto Rico.
The North Miami Beach location, the ninth in the county, will be within walking distance of a dispensary owned by another pioneering medical pot firm, Curaleaf — which has dispensaries in 11 states, according to its website. That area could become a haven for the thriving industry because of its proximity to not just Miami, but also I-95 and points north.

Former University of Miami star running back Willis McGahee will attend the Saturday Knox open house in North Miami Beach to discuss his "journey with medical cannabis," Klenet said.

"We have a long-standing relationship with hundreds of patients in the area," he added. "The last two years have shown incredible growth."