KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Tuesday will begin taking applications for “microbusiness” licenses July 27.
Amendment 3 — which voters passed in November 2022, legalizing recreational marijuana in the state — requires Missouri to begin issuing small-business licenses for retail sales and wholesale production by September.
RELATED COVERAGE | Marijuana in Missouri
To meet that deadline, state officials will open the application process from July 27 to Aug. 10, 2023.
Forms and instructions on how those interested in starting a new dispensary or wholesale facility will be available by June 6.
There will be six licenses issued in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts, two dispensaries and four for wholesale, via random lottery in October 2023. The Missouri Lottery will conduct the drawing, according to DHSS.
The microbusiness licenses “are designed to allow marginalized or under-represented individuals to participate in the legal marijuana market,” DHSS said.
Dispensaries sell products to consumers, while wholesale facilities cultivate and manufacture marijuana or marijuana-infused products.
Only one submission from an individual or entity is allowed per drawing.
—