‘This has been a disaster’: How did Missouri screw up medical marijuana licenses?

Missouri’s process for awarding medical marijuana licenses has been disappointingly deficient, to the detriment of patients who believe cannabis can relieve their pain.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that cleared the way for medical marijuana in the state. In 2019, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services launched a complicated process to sort through almost 2,300 applications to grow, manufacture and sell marijuana products to qualified patients.

Applicants would be “scored” according to several criteria, most of them quite subjective: “character, veracity, background (and) qualifications” of would-be owners; the business plan; security; experience and economic impact in the community.

Last August, the state hired an outside firm, Wise Health Solutions, to review the applications. The highest scoring applicants would be licensed.

Complaints emerged almost immediately after licensees were announced. Would-be growers and sellers said their applications were improperly reviewed. Some said they had spent thousands of dollars preparing to offer medical marijuana for sale, only to be denied under a less-than-transparent process.

To date, more than 800 appeals have been filed by applicants seeking to overturn their license denials. Missouri is currently working through that appeals process, which could take months.

The Missouri legislature has held a series of hearings on the issue. It is not yet clear from those hearings whether the obvious scoring issues reflect simple human error, serious incompetence or something more sinister such as conflicts of interest or corruption.

Wise Health Solutions has denied any conflicts or corrupt motives, as has the state of Missouri. Marijuana supporters say scoring problems were the inevitable result of so many applications.

Nevertheless, “I have deep concerns about this situation,” Missouri Rep. Jon Carpenter, a Kansas City Democrat, said Wednesday. “The pretty wide-held view is that this has been a disaster.”

Missourians deserve to know the full truth about how the industry has been regulated. Missouri lawmakers must reach some conclusion about the licensing process before they adjourn.

A final public report should explain the role of the private company in scoring applications, examine obvious mistakes and reach conclusions about the fairness of the process.

It’s also clear, though, that concerns about the license process have been driven in part by the state’s decision to artificially limit the number of licenses available for growing, manufacturing and selling cannabis products.

The constitutional amendment approved by voters sets a floor for the number of licenses for medical marijuana. By adopting a limit on licenses — 192 for dispensaries, 60 for growers and 86 for making cannabis products — the state guaranteed disputes about the selection process.

That’s particularly true because of the subjective requirements to get a license.

It’s now clear that an artificial limit on licenses was a mistake. Instead, the state should set minimum requirements and then issue licenses for all applicants who meet those standards. If that means 100 medical marijuana stores in a city or congressional district, so be it.

Cannabis supporters say a glut of licenses could lead to a glut of unsold marijuana, which might end up on the black market. While that’s a reasonable concern, the free market should soon sort out stores that can’t compete, bringing supply and demand into equilibrium quickly.

Competition will also mean lower prices for consumers, including those with great pain and serious diseases. That’s a plus.

Expanding the pool of growers and sellers need not be difficult. As the appeals process for denied applications continues, administrative judges can set a minimum standard for cannabis businesses, then require the issuance of as many licenses as necessary.

Missourians who are sick want the relief that medical marijuana may provide. Business owners who want to sell the product, and applied for licenses in good faith, should be allowed to do that. Let the marketplace work.