State sees high volume of patient applications ahead of first sales

The state has approved almost 65,000 medical marijuana patients just ahead of the first legal sale of facility-produced medical marijuana.

It’s been 15 months since the Department of Health and Senior Services Section for Medical Marijuana began accepting patient applications, which provide patients the right to possess and consume marijuana, as well as purchase legal medical marijuana.

Over 7,000 patient care cards have been renewed as of September 28. Over 18,000 patients are approved to cultivate their own medicine.

The first legal purchase of medical marijuana is expected this month; the State has approved six dispensaries throughout the state to operate. The six dispensaries are N’Bliss (Ellisville), N’Bliss (Manchester), Missouri Health & Wellness (Washington), Missouri Health and Wellness (Sedalia), Old Route 66 Dispensary (Springfield), and Beleaf (St. Peters).

The Department approved the state’s first testing lab, EKG Labs in St. Louis, to operate in late September. All cultivator-produced medical marijuana must be tested prior to sale. Product testing can take several days to over a week for large harvests.

The most recent September 28 patient application stats provided by the Department shows more than average applications awaiting state approval.

“The department has 30 days to process patient and caregiver applications from the date they are received, and we continue to meet that obligation,” said DHSS spokesperson Lisa Cox. “We don’t have a backlog, however, we do continue to receive a high volume of all types of applications which does include patient and caregiver initial applications, license renewals, and license updates. Our processing times fluctuate based on many factors, but we have never not met the 30-day processing obligation.

“Of course at the beginning of the program our turn-around time was often less than one week; as the program has grown, that turn-around time is no longer a norm but we are always well within or 30-day obligation. We do regularly receive inquiries regarding processing times and requesting the status of the application.”

Missourians without a patient care card will not be apple to purchase medical marijuana nor do they have the right to possess or consume medical marijuana, except where few local municipalities offer protections for possession and consumption. Many clinics throughout the state offer telehealth services for certifications, a service many patients are taking advantage of during this pandemic.

To monitor patient application progress, the state offers the following information:

The department has 30 days to process patient and caregiver applications, applications are processed in the order they were received.

If you received a confirmation email with an application reference code or application ID number, your application has been submitted and is in queue.

If you did not, and the application shows as “open” status in the application portal, the application has not been submitted.

To find the status of your application:

• Log into http://mo-public.mycomplia.com/
• Click on “Applications” on the left side of the screen.
  • Applications that have been started, but not submitted will be in “open” status.
    To submit an open application: click on “Not Applicable” under Application ID, click Save and Next to navigate through the application. On the review tab, click “Pay and Submit” at the bottom of the screen to submit.
    If there are any red x’s on the review tab, there is information missing in the section of the application that the red x is next to.
    Submitted applications will have an application ID number and be in “submitted” status.
• Rejected applications will be in “rejected” status and have a pop-up notification when you first log in.
• If there are no applications on the Applications tab, the application has been processed.
  • Click “License Dashboard” to see the status of a processed application.
  • Approved applications will have the status of “approved” and will list a PAT/CAR license number.
    You may download your license by clicking the “actions” button on an approved license.
  • Denied applications will have the status of “denied”.

Once an application is processed, the applicant will be notified. If the application is approved, you’ll receive and email with instructions on how to download your license from the registry portal. If the application is rejected for required corrections, you will receive a rejection notification of missing information and instructions on how to make those correction(s) and resubmit your application. Applicants have ten days to make correction(s) and resubmit. There are no additional fees to make corrections to a rejected application.

Please continue to monitor the email address associated with the application for notification once your application has approved.

Patient Services Application Stats
Morning of 9/28/2020
Processed Applications
Patient Approved 62,380
Caregiver Approved 1,926
Approved Patient/Caregiver Cultivators 18,380
Patient/Caregiver Rejected* 208
Patient/Caregiver Denied 2,795
Total Approved 64,306

Applications Received
Patient Applications 74,341
Caregiver Applications 2,677
Total Applications Received 77,018

Renewals
Patient/Caregiver Applications Received 8,899
Patient/Caregiver Approved 7,133
Patient/Caregiver Rejected* 79