The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) announced the names of 48 microbusiness license winners on Oct. 2, roughly a month after random lottery drawings were held for a pool of more than 1,600 applicants.
Six microbusiness licenses were awarded within each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts, including two dispensary licenses and four wholesale facility licenses within each district. Overall, the combined pool for all eight districts included 1,048 applicants for the 16 dispensary licenses, and 577 applicants for 32 wholesale facility licenses.
The competitiveness for each district ranged from 93 to 194 applicants for dispensary licenses and 20 to 144 applicants for wholesale dispensary licenses.
The winners can be viewed here.
The drawings were held Aug. 28, following a 15-day application period that ended earlier that month. The lotteries were conducted “without reference to the identities of the applicants,” and the timeline for the application process was mandated by the state’s 2022 voter-approved adult-use cannabis legalization measure.
Before issuing the licenses, the DCR—which operates within the state’s Department of Health and Seniors Services (DHSS)—conducted a review of the drawn applications to determine whether applicants were eligible to receive a license. If a top drawn application did not meet application requirements, the next application from the drawing list was reviewed.
This review process resulted in two dispensary applicants and two wholesale facility applicants getting denied despite drawing winning numbers:
- Relate Bean LLC (dispensary) in District 2
- Patsy Leech (wholesale) in District 2
- King Wizard LLC (dispensary) District 4
- Above Standard Production (wholesale) District 6
According to DHSS, denial notices containing the reasons for the denial were issued to these applicants that officials determined did not meet certain application requirements. Any denied applicant may seek review of the denial through the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission or may request a refund of the application fee.
The other 1,573 applicants not chosen by the lottery are eligible for a refund, with the DHSS accepting those requests starting Nov. 2, as long as applicants have no pending or future litigation regarding the lottery process.
Missouri’s adult-use cannabis program launched commercial sales Feb. 3, 2023, via the state’s existing medical cannabis operators. In the first seven months (February through August), licensed retailers recorded a whopping $639.7 million in adult-use sales and $194.8 million in medical cannabis sales, according to DHSS sales data.
Pending any litigation that may/may not lead to court injunctions, the 16 dispensary license winners from the Aug. 28 microbusiness lottery will be given the nod to join this burgeoning retail market.
An additional 48 licenses will be issued through each subsequent application/lottery window in 2024 and 2025.
