Florida’s pot industry is about to explode and with that in mind, Florida health officials have agreed to issue another medical marijuana license. It is the seventh in the state and goes to a Central Florida nursery that lost out to a competitor by a fraction of a percentage point last fall.

The Department of Health signed the agreement with McCrory’s Sunny Hill Nursery last week after nearly a year of protracted and expensive litigation over the matter.

As reported by News4Jax, in the December 12 settlement, state officials acknowledged the Lake Wales-based McCrory’s business should have received a Central Florida license awarded in November to Knox Nursery.

Supporters of Amendment 2 have argued the limited number of licenses allowed in Florida would not provide the access to marijuana treatment anticipated by authors of the proposal or by voters who overwhelmingly signed off on the measure.

State economists estimate that 500,000 patients could be eligible for the treatment. Industry observers predict that number could be even greater because the amendment gives doctors leeway to order pot for illnesses not specifically identified in the amendment.

The law passed earlier this year allows the Department of Health to grant at least three additional licenses after more than 250,000 patients have signed up for the marijuana treatment.

Four of the state’s six medical marijuana license-holders are now producing pot treatments. According to Clifford, patients receiving full-strength marijuana currently limited to terminally ill patients and they are restricted to purchasing five days’ worth of treatment due to a supply shortage.