by the end of the year. The Ocala location is store No. 18, said Vinit Patel, regional dispensary operations manager.

Inside, the store resembles a boutique retailer with brightly lit display counters and vibrant colors. White is the dominant color, including for staff uniforms, with highlights of neon green. The back wall of the display area features a large sign made of live moss with the company name emblazoned across it.

"Ocala is centrally located. We have the state's other major markets covered and smack dab in the middle is this beautiful area," said Patel, about locating a store in the city.

Despite the quiet opening, the waiting area was busy Friday with people filling prescriptions. While there are several Ocala doctors certified to dispense marijuana prescriptions and hemp-derived CBD productsdoctor then registers the person in the state's medical marijuana user registry. After the person pays the required state fees, the doctor can then prescribe the drug. After the registration and prescription get validated at the dispensary, only then can the client enter the dispensing area.

All the hoops are an effort to foil those looking to game the system.

The dispensaries also must follow strict rules.

The law requires that the cultivation, processing and sale of the drug all take place within the state. Curaleaf operates one of Florida's largest marijuana growing operations, near Mount Dora, and processes the plant in Miami. They hope to open another processing facility in Mount Dora, Patel said.

The company makes several products, which include high THC — the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana — and