Missourians Compete With Out-of-state Marijuana Businesses

Some Missouri business owners looking to profit from the state's burgeoning marijuana industry worry they're at a disadvantage to established out-of-state organizations that have been aggressive in applying to process or sell medical marijuana in Missouri.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that nearly 700 groups have filed more than 2,000 marijuana business applications in the state.

That comes after voters approved a measure last year to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes in Missouri.

Missouri will issue only 60 licenses to grow marijuana, 86 to make marijuana-infused products and 192 to open dispensaries.

Simply applying is expensive: $6,000 for each dispensary or processing license and $10,000 per cultivation license. The most licenses any one business can win is 11.
At least 21 groups, most of them marijuana retailers from other states, have applied for 11 or more licenses.