Florida’s medical marijuana registry recorded its three largest weekly patient increases on record in the weeks following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving the gun rights of marijuana consumers.
A review of weekly reports from the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use found that the number of qualified patients with active identification cards increased by 1,811 in the July 3 report, 1,494 in the July 10 report and 1,013 in the July 17 report, marking the three largest weekly gains on record. The registry added another 934 patients in the newest report, bringing the total to 938,435 as of July 24.
Altogether, the registry added 7,922 patients during the seven weekly reports released from June 12 through July 24. During the comparable period in 2025, the state added 2,888 patients. The 2026 increase was 5,034 patients higher and approximately 2.7 times the growth recorded during the same span last year.
The acceleration occurred around the Supreme Court’s June 18 decision in United States v. Hemani. The court affirmed the dismissal of a federal charge against a Texas man who acknowledged using marijuana approximately every other day while possessing a firearm in his home.
The justices found that the federal government failed to demonstrate a historical tradition supporting the automatic disarmament of someone solely because they are considered an unlawful user of a controlled substance, without evidence that the person’s drug use made them dangerous.
The ruling was limited to how the federal law was applied to Hemani and did not invalidate every firearm restriction involving drug use.
Although the patient increases closely followed the ruling, the state reports do not identify why people joined the registry, and the timing alone does not establish that the court’s decision caused the growth.
Sponsors:
