Four years after the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in West Palm Beach, city officials say cannabis businesses are growing out of control. Commissioners voted 4 to 1 this week to halt approvals of new dispensaries in the city of 117,000.
“We already have nine of them in the city,” City Commissioner Joseph Peduzzi said during a public meeting. “I don’t want to see us as a city of West Palm Beach becoming the place where everyone comes to buy their marijuana.”
West Palm Beach’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in June 2019, when the company formerly known as MedMen Enterprises debuted at 539 Clematis Street. (That location now operates as Sunburn.)
Since then, other cannabis dispensaries have opened within city limits, including Ayr Cannabis Dispensary at 1540 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, Green Dragon at 1695 Forum Place, Rise Dispensaries at 430 Clematis Street and Surterra Wellness at 2500 South Dixie Highway. Under the measure, which goes to a second reading next month, the city’s existing dispensaries would continue to operate but no future outlets would be allowed.
The proliferation of dispensaries in West Palm Beach reflects a flourishing industry. As of last week, 828,560 Floridians were on the state’s