Missouri to Award Over 300 Business Licenses

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]ut of the 2,100 applications for medical cannabis business licenses in Missouri so far, 348 have been chosen to receive them.

According to the Springfield News-Leader, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services collected over $13 million in application fees from those who wanted to get involved in the cannabis industry. So far, the state is awarding 192 licenses for dispensaries, 60 for cultivation facilities, 86 for manufacturing facilities and 10 for testing labs.

Additionally, the department has already approved more than 6,500 applications for qualifying medical cannabis patients, as well as caregiver ID cards. Originally, Missouri was projecting an estimate that they would receive 500-600 applications, but they ended up getting many more than originally thought.

“I think the 2,100 [business] applications really is stunning,” Jack Cardetti, a spokesman for the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, told the Springfield News-Leader. “It shows that Missouri is different than other programs. If you compare our program to states like Arkansas, that’s a lot more accessible than many states we’ve seen that have a relatively small number of licenses.”

Despite the fact that the industry is a little overwhelmed right now, authorities ultimately think it’s going to be a good thing.

“When the Missouri system is completely up and running, patients will not have to go far,” he said. “Certainly in the opening days, there will be a race to the harvest.”

Ever since Missouri medical cannabis applications first became available the industry has been excited about moving forward. Still, since medical legalization is still recent, the huge interest ultimately spells out a bright future for Missouri cannabis. It will be interesting to see what the next few years and the brand-new businesses bring to the table.