Florida Statute Section 381.986(8) requires Medical Marijuana Treatment Center dispensaries to sit at least 500 feet from public or private elementary, middle, or secondary schools, measured between nearest property lines.
Under FL §381.986(8)(b), any MMTC dispensary in Orlando must be located at least 500 feet from the nearest real property comprising a public or private school. The buffer is measured property-line to property-line. Counties and municipalities may, by ordinance, require dispensaries to be at least 500 feet from school properties, but cannot impose buffers larger than the equivalent for pharmacies under local zoning. Orlando treats MMTCs as pharmacies under its zoning code per state preemption. Cities cannot ban dispensaries outright unless they ban all dispensaries by referendum, and cannot impose extra-buffer rules beyond the pharmacy parity required by state law.
Operating a dispensary inside the 500-foot school buffer or without state DOH licensure can trigger MMTC license revocation and state criminal charges for unlicensed cannabis distribution.
Orlando, FL
Florida law prohibits home cultivation of cannabis even for medical patients. Under FL §381.986, only licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers may cultiv...
Orlando, FL
Orlando regulates medical marijuana dispensary locations through zoning restrictions in the Land Development Code. Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers (MMTCs...
See how Orlando's buffer zones rules stack up against other locations.
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