DHSS receives more than 1,000 medical marijuana dispensary applications

September 4, 2019 at 3:52 a.m. | Updated September 4, 2019 at 3:52 a.m.

FILE - In this May 5, 2015 photo, marijuana plants grow at a Minnesota Medical Solutions greenhouse in Otsego, Minn. Advocates for legalizing marijuana have long argued it would strike a blow for social justice after a decades-long drug war that disproportionately targeted minority and poor communities. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, File)
FILE - In this May 5, 2015 photo, marijuana plants grow at a Minnesota Medical Solutions greenhouse in Otsego, Minn. Advocates for legalizing marijuana have long argued it would strike a blow for social justice after a decades-long drug war that disproportionately targeted minority and poor communities. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, File)

Of the 2,163 medical marijuana facility applications received by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, just over half were for dispensary facilities, with cultivation facilities coming in second.

Information released Tuesday showed the breakdown of applications for the facilities:

Cultivation facility applications - 554.

Dispensary facility applications - 1,163.

Manufacturing facility applications - 415.

Testing facility applications - 17.

Transportation facility applications - 14.

Missouri voters approved Amendment 2 in November, legalizing medical marijuana with a 4 percent retail sales tax to go toward the Missouri Veterans Commission.

Between Aug. 3-19, applications could be submitted for facilities, which are broken down into four categories by the Missouri Constitution:

Medical marijuana cultivation facility - a facility that farms, stores, transports and sells medical marijuana.

Medical marijuana testing facility - a facility that acquires, tests, certifies and transports medical marijuana.

Medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facility - a facility that specializes in marijuana-infused products.

Medical marijuana dispensary facility - a medical marijuana retail establishment.

Following the deadline - which was extended to Aug. 19 from the original deadline of Aug. 17 - DHSS received claims from some applicants that they were unable to submit applications due to technical difficulties. Each claim was reviewed as a request for a waiver of the application deadline, according to a DHSS news release.

Twenty requests for waivers were denied and 109 were granted, allowing those applications to be submitted, according to a news release by DHSS.

DHSS will license 60 cultivation facilities, 192 dispensaries, 86 medical marijuana-infused manufacturing facilities and 10 testing laboratory facilities. Applications must be approved or denied within 150 of the application submission date.

DHSS will release additional information on the applications in the coming weeks, including applicant names and facility locations, according to the news release.

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