Medical Marijuana Division releases worksheets for application prep

By Brandon Dunn

The Missouri Medical Marijuana Division has released 41 worksheets that can be used to prepare answers for the August 3 application date for facility applicants in Missouri.

Structured similarly to the high-end guidebooks designed for PSATs or standardized prep manuals, the worksheets give detailed explanations of the questions and requirements for each of the evaluation criteria questions.

The worksheets allow the user to prep materials and answers and then print or save their materials, which should enable applicants and application writers to spend the next month conforming to the stringent word counts.

Expect to see firms who had booked thousand-page applications and have 50+ pages of source materials working round the clock in the coming weeks whittling their omnibus answers to the sparse confines of the worksheets.

Worksheets 1-17 cover 68 questions and apply to all facility types.

The next 21 worksheets, 18-38, cover 22 questions and apply only to testing facilities.

Worksheet 39 features 11 questions targeted at cultivation applicants.

Worksheet 40 addresses 8 questions required for dispensary applicants.

Worksheet 41, the last of the preparation materials features 10 questions specified for manufacturing facilities.

The Medical Marijuana Division also released an interactive map showing counties in which potential applicants have prepaid application fees. 

Interestingly, the pre-filed license application fee form asks only for applicants to, “Provide the name of the city or community nearest to your anticipated facility location. This location is used by the department for tracking and planning purposes only to determine where facilities are anticipated to be. The facility location on subsequent applications may be different than the anticipated facility location provided on this form.”

This is significant for two reasons, there are multiple communities around the state that are split between multiple congressional districts, and in some locations, a single city may stretch between two or more counties, the form has no way of differentiating in areas where a zip code may be split. So while traditional data shows District 5 having double the pre-filed application fees of District 4 and nearly three times the number for District 6, those numbers may be unintentionally skewed.

The second reason this is significant is that the language is non-binding, many facility applicants are just now finalizing proposals for locations, as many communities have taken a prolonged time to finalize setbacks and buffer zones, which has caused some applicants who pre-filed their fees to change locations. In a few instances, decide to abandon their pursuits altogether.

While it’s unlikely, it is possible that when formal applications are filed we may see a marked decrease in some of the most highly trafficked areas in pre-filings and an exponential boost in some of the outlying areas, especially those near large urban footholds that have overlap between segments.

Overlooked in all the changes to the division website yesterday were significant changes to the Facility Information FAQ page.

Some of the most significant information detailed in the updated FAQ page includes details pertaining to publicly controlled interests, combined license applicants, and further breakdown of several questions that many have interpreted as open-ended.

Does Missouri prohibit publicly traded companies from owning medical marijuana facilities?

No. However, Missouri medical marijuana facilities cannot be owned, in whole or in part, by an individual who has a disqualifying felony offense, which is defined by 19 CSR 30-95.010(8). At the time of application, applicants must attest that the facility complies with this requirement, and there is no exception for individuals who own a very small part of a facility.

Can applicants apply for a combination of licenses/certifications at one location?

Initially, applicants must submit separate applications for each license or certification they seek. Each application must be for a single facility in order to ensure applicants are not awarded points for attributes of a combined facility (e.g.., economic benefit to the site community) that will not materialize if only some of the licenses/certifications are granted. Multiple applications may be submitted for a single location, but each application will be reviewed and scored independent from the other. Pursuant to 19 CSR 30-95.040(4)(C), once awarded a license/certificate, facilities may seek Department approval to combine operations into a single facility at one location.

If a landlord takes a percent-based rent of total sales, would that be considered an economic interest?

As stated in 19 CSR 30-95.010 (10), “economic interest” means rights to either the capital or profit interests therein. An arrangement whereby a landlord or any other person or entity is to receive a return on the capital or a portion of profits would be regarded as an economic interest.