Mark Toigo, a cannabis investor from Pennsylvania, has filed a federal lawsuit to strike down Missouri’s requirement that medical cannabis business licenses are owned by residents, according to St. Louis Public Radio.
The voter-approved constitutional amendment that legalized medical cannabis in 2018 requires licenses to be majority owned by residents who have lived in Missouri for at least one year prior to filing the application, the news outlet reported.
Toigo, a minority owner in Organic Remedies MO Inc., which holds three dispensary licenses, one cultivation license and one manufacturer license in the state, argued in his lawsuit, which was filed Dec. 11 against the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and its director, Randall Williams, that the state is discriminating against non-residents and violating the dormant clause of the U.S. Constitution by enforcing the residency requirement, St. Louis Public Radio reported.
Toigo alleged that the residency requirement prohibits him from investing any additional funding into a Missouri company if it increases his ownership stakes above 49%, which limits his “economic opportunities in Missouri’s nascent marijuana industry,” according to St. Louis Public Radio.
