Kansas City area continues to lead in pre-applications

By Rachael Dunn

Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, which consists of most of the Kansas City area, has almost twice as many pre-applications than each of Missouri’s other 7 districts, with 71 pre-applications.

The 3rd district, which includes Jefferson City and Rolla has 40 pre-applications and the 7th District, which includes Springfield, has 39. St. Louis City is not far behind with 36 pre-applications.

Application fees, including pre-application fees, are non-refundable. Application filing does not open until August 3. Applications themselves will be posted on June 4.

The constitutional amendment approved by voters designates a dispensary minimum broken down by the congressional districts. The Department of Health and Senior Services has opted to use the minimum constitutional requirements as the first year number of facility licenses to issue.

Per the constitutional minimum, each congressional district must have at least 24 dispensaries. Dispensary and manufacturing licenses are designated by population. The state recently announced that the top scoring 192 dispensary facility applications will be initially licensed.

The top-scoring 60 cultivation facilities and 86 medical marijuana-infused manufacturing facilities will also be initially licensed for business. The state also recently announced up to 10 testing facilities will be licensed. The amendment specifies at least 2 testing facilities.

“We appreciate and continue to seek the public’s input on how to best implement Article XIV of the Constitution,” said Dr. Randall Williams, DHSS Director. “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. Moving forward, we will continually reassess to ensure access for patients is adequate.”

Facility license application forms and instructions will be available online June 4, and DHSS will accept completed applications from August 3-17. DHSS and contracted partners will then have until December 31 to review and score applications prior to licensing.

“The blind facility application scoring process will ensure that businesses selected for licenses will be those most capable of providing quality service to patients while adhering to the regulations we are implementing,” said Lyndall Fraker, Director of DHSS Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation.  

DHSS will continue accepting feedback on all drafts of rules via an online suggestion form until May 15. All rules must be finalized and available to the public by June 4. Until then, draft rules are subject to change.

The total pre-filed form fees total $3,598,000 as of May 14. Of the pre-filed application forms, 153 are cultivation facilities, 277 are dispensary facilities, and 80 are manufacturing facilities.

The non-refundable application fee is $6,000 for dispensaries and manufacturing facilties and $10,000 for cultivation facilities.