Who can get a license to sell recreational marijuana if Missouri passes Amendment 3?

Marijuana legalization could not only pave the way for marijuana users but for entrepreneurs looking to break into the recreational marijuana market in Missouri.

Amendment 3, the marijuana legalization initiative on the Missouri ballot in November, would establish the rules around who can get a license to sell marijuana as part of the state’s recreational program. All of these rules would be enshrined in the state’s constitution if the amendment successfully passes in the Nov. 8 election.

Missouri legalized medical marijuana in 2018. Since then, a few businesses have become leaders in the state’s medical weed industry. Those licensees would be among the first to get a chance at applying for recreational license if the amendment passes.

The amendment would also create a “microbusiness” licensing program for smaller entrepreneurs and businesses. This microbusiness license program is designed to help people to break into the market by selling or cultivating marijuana products at a smaller scale.

For businesses that are interested in starting a new comprehensive marijuana facility from scratch for the purpose of cultivating or manufacturing non-medical weed, the process of getting license and approval could take at least a year, according to John Payne, a spokesperson for LegalMO, the campaign that pushed for this marijuana legalization initiative

If Amendment 3 passes, who can get a license to sell weed in Missouri?

Businesses would need a state license in order to sell, cultivate or manufacture weed. This would be the only legal route to sell weed if the amendment is added to the state constitution.

Current medical marijuana businesses will have the first shot at getting recreational licenses, by converting their current license. Currently, 63 marijuana cultivation licenses, 204 dispensary licenses and 84 manufacturing licenses have been issued under the medical marijuana program.

At a minimum, the amendment requires the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to issue the same number of licenses for the recreational program as currently exist under the medical program. But since the medical marijuana licensees can apply to convert their license, the number of remaining licenses that state grants may be limited. DHSS will get to decide how many licenses can be granted in total.

The amendment also creates a microbusiness program for smaller players to enter the market. The state would only need to grant six of these microbusiness licenses in each congressional district when the program launches at first.

When will recreational licenses become available?

If passed, the effective date of the amendment is exactly 30 days after the vote, so the entire petition would be effective by December 8.

If the amendment passes, the health department must make microbusiness license applications for smaller businesses available within 180 days after December 8. The department has to start accepting those applications within 270 days after.

Existing, large-scale medical marijuana businesses that cultivate, manufacture and distribute are known as comprehensive facilities. They can apply for a new comprehensive license as soon December 8. These licenses will allow them to cultivate, manufacture and distribute for both programs.

The health department is required to processes comprehensive license applications within 60 days of receiving the application. Businesses that want to start a comprehensive facility just for recreational weed and don’t currently have a medical marijuana operation may have to wait up to a year to get the proper license, according to Payne.

Otherwise, small businesses can start their recreational marijuana endeavors by getting a microbusiness license.

What is a microbusiness license, and what are the requirements?

Microbusiness licenses are intended for small scale businesses, including dispensaries and wholesale facilities, interested in selling or cultivating marijuana. The microbusiness license will be a way for regular people who are interested in the business to break into the recreational market. These microbusiness licenses will be distributed to two kinds of businesses: dispensaries and wholesale facilities.

What‘s the difference between microbusiness dispensaries and microbusiness wholesale facilities?

Microbusiness dispensaries are small scale retail businesses that will sell marijuana. There is no limit to how much marijuana these small businesses can sell so long as they purchase them from microbusiness wholesale facilities.

Different from dispensaries, microbusiness wholesale facilities will be allowed to acquire, cultivate, process and package mariiuana products for microbusiness dispensaries. These wholesale facilities will differ from comprehensive facilities in that they can only cultivate up to 250 flowering plants at a time.

Who qualifies for a microbusiness license?

In order to get a microbusiness license, business owners will need to meet one of five requirements:

Income

First the individuals applying will need to have a net worth less than $250,000, who have made less than 250% of the federal poverty level, which is around $34,000 a year for one person. The individual needs to meet this financial criteria for at least three of the past 10 years to qualify.

Location

People will also qualify for microbusiness licenses if they live in a census tract area where at least 30% of the community lives below the poverty line or if they live in an area where the unemployment rate is 50% higher than the state’s average.

People who graduated from an unaccredited high school or lived in a zip code that housed an unaccredited school district for three of the past five years, will also qualify for the microbusiness license program. This would include Kansas City residents, since Kansas City Public Schools didn’t gain accreditation until 2022. This also applies to people who live outside of Missouri.

Communities impacted by marijuana prohibition

Specific groups that qualify include disabled veterans and individuals whose families have been arrested, prosecuted or convicted of a non-violent marijuana offense. To qualify, the charge must have occurred at least a year before recreational marijuana is legalized. However anyone charged with providing marijuana to minors or driving under the influence of marijuana will not be eligible.

Also eligible are people who live in a community where the rate of incarceration for marijuana-related charges is historically higher than the rest of the state by at least 50%.

How many microbusiness licenses will there be?

Ultimately, DHSS will decide how many licenses are granted. Right now, the amendment calls for at least 144 recreational licenses for small businesses. However, those licenses won’t all be available at the same time.

The department will first offer at least six microbusiness licenses in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts, for a total of 48 microbusiness licenses within the first 300 days after the amendment’s effective date.

Two of these six licenses will be reserved for dispensaries and the other four will be available for wholesale facilities.

After another 270 days, the department will make another six licenses available (four for wholesale facilities and two for dispensaries) in each district. Eventually there the department will offer 18 licenses in each district for a total of 144 licenses. The department can choose to offer more microbusiness licenses than this, but they will not be required to.

How will applications for licenses be chosen?

There will be a lottery for microbusiness licenses. Not everyone who is eligible and applies will be granted a microbusiness license by DHSS.

How much will the microbusiness license cost?

The application for a microbusiness license will cost $1,500, according to Payne. Applicants that are not accepted will get a refund. If the application is approved, the license holder will be charged an annual fee of $1,500 for each year they are in operation. These fees are the same for both micro-dispensaries and micro-whole sale facilities.

Who doesn’t qualify for a microbusiness license?

In order to qualify to sell or manufacture weed, business owners need to meet at least one of the five criteria mentioned above or else they will not qualify for a microbusiness license. People who already hold a medical marijuana license will also not qualify for a microbusiness license.

Business owners will also be ineligible to sell or manufacture weed if they plead guilty or be found guilty of a felony offense. The amendment does allows for these specific exceptions:

• Marijuana charges (unless the felony was for providing weed to a minor or diving under the influence of marijuana).

• A nonviolent offense that was more than five years ago and that the person was not incarcerated for.

• The person was released from probation or parole more than five years ago and has not been convicted of any felony offenses since.

Will this license program help more people get into the marijuana business?

Some critics say that the current license program outlined in the amendment works in favor of the medical marijuana industry which could monopolize the market before smaller businesses get their bearings in the industry.

Supporters of the program argue that the amendment is just making a way for medical marijuana operations to migrate to the recreational market and that the limits on licenses will ensure that the market is not oversaturated, the Star reported.

If you have more questions about Amendment 3, email us at KCQ@kcstar.com.

This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 6:00 AM.

Kynala Phillips

The Kansas City Star

Kynala Phillips was a Service Journalism Reporter at The Kansas City Star, where she worked to answer readers questions about the resources and services in the community. She attended the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is originally from Madison, Wisconsin.