State receives 12 applications in first 48 hours
The State began receiving medical marijuana facility applications on August 3, receiving 12 applications in the first 48 hours.
Cultivation, manufacturing, dispensary and testing applications continue to be accepted until to Aug. 17, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. All applications will be filled out directly on the secure, online registry.
The top-scoring 60 cultivation facilities, 192 dispensary facilities and 86 medical marijuana-infused manufacturing facilities will be initially licensed for business in Missouri.
“After careful due diligence based on broad input and other states’ experiences, we are establishing the number of licenses in this first year to be consistent with what is outlined in the Constitution,” said Dr. Randall Williams, DHSS Director, previously. “Moving forward, we will continually reassess to ensure access for patients is adequate.”
Additionally, a Medical Marijuana Call Center is operating from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to answer facility application-related inquiries made using the toll-free line or email. The State also released several application tutorial videos and scoring guides to help applicants through the process.
More than 600 potential applicants pre-filed their facility application fees with the Department of Health and Senior Services. Many who have pre-filed have abandoned or reformed their facility plans. Applicants were not required to pre-file their application fee. The application fee is non-refundable.
Industry thought leaders continue to estimate between 700-1,000 applications will be received by the State for scoring and eventual license. Each individual facility requires its own application.
A third-party blind scorer will review and score the Evaluation Criteria Scoring Questions for all cultivation, manufacturing, dispensary, and testing facility applications, stripped of any identifying information.
“Early on as we began our research, our team got together to discuss the various ways we could award licenses, and we all agreed that a blind scoring system using a third-party vendor would be the fairest way to grant licenses to applicants,” said Lyndall Fraker, director of the Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation. “Since applicants will be scored solely on the content of their facility applications, we also believe that this will help set the industry up for a successful launch for Missouri patients.”