Your Cannabis Business Journey Begins…

Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Missouri voters approved medical marijuana by passing Amendment 2. There are now 32 states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes. This recent passing’s implications will take the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services months to develop rules before the first medical marijuana card is even applied for, much less granted. Additionally, employers will now have a new set of legal issues they are faced with for employees.

On the other side of things, there is a business opportunity to be had. By June 2019, the state must provide application forms to Missourians who wish to open a medical marijuana dispensary, cultivation facility, testing facility or marijuana-infused product manufacturing facility. By August 2019, the state must start reviewing, evaluating, and accepting the licenses of these applicants and will have 150 days to determine who qualifies. This means it is time to bring your cannabis business venture to fruition.

As part of the passing of this Amendment, there is a minimum number of licenses to dispense that will be granted.

• In Missouri, each of the 8 congressional districts will have 24 dispensary licenses granted.

• There must be at least one cultivation license granted for every 100,000 inhabitants of Missouri.

• There must be at least one marijuana products manufacturing license granted per 70,000 inhabitants or 85 state-wide.

• And it will be mandatory that there are at least two medical marijuana testing facilities within the state.

As a business attorney in the Kansas City, Missouri metro, I have proactively researched the implications of this Amendment passing and how it will affect my current and prospective clients. I am able to advise clients on a wide range of medical marijuana business formation and compliance matters.

If you are looking for a lawyer in Missouri, who has researched the regulation and compliance laws, understands business transactions, real estate law, leases and all the other important things you are possibly going to need to begin your Cannabis business journey, contact Jeff Coppaken with the Coppaken Law Firm. Missouri just created a huge opportunity, but it also has a lot of risks, and you need a great team around you. Contact for a free consultation.