Anyone wanting to grow or sell marijuana in Missouri should have hundreds of thousands in cash and be prepared to describe the minutiae of their business plans, from controlling odor from marijuana facilities to keeping the drug from entering the illegal market.
That’s according to a long-awaited draft of applications for marijuana business licenses posted Wednesday, the first time anyone hoping to win state approval to grow or sell marijuana could see what exactly they would need to provide to officials.
Missouri has raked in at least $3.4 million in application fees from 481 groups hoping to apply for licenses to produce or sell marijuana or marijuana-infused products, Lyndall Fraker, director of Missouri’s medical marijuana program said Friday. Fraker spoke to a crowd of dozens at the Missouri Cannabis Industry Association’s two-day conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Bridgeton.
The state is keeping the filers’ identities secret. The Post-Dispatch has sued the state to release the applicants’ names. Missouri is required by law to approve at least 60 commercial growers, 86 facilities that manufacture marijuana-infused products and 192 dispensary licenses — 24 dispensaries for each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts.
The metro area will probably see more than 48 dispensaries. Two congressional districts cover St. Louis and St. Louis County and parts of St. Charles and Jefferson counties. At least 57 groups have paid application fees in that area. Other Missouri counties in the metro area could receive some of the dispensaries allocated to two congressional districts that stretch west to Jefferson City and south to the state border.
The application questions are available on the website of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the agency tasked with regulating the medical marijuana industry.
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