MJBizMag January 2023 - 35

Connecticut
Rhode Island
MISSOURI
SNAPSHOT*
Ballot initiative or legislation: On Nov. 8, 2022, voters approved
Amendment 3, known as Legal Missouri 2022, with 53% support.
Regulatory agency: Department of Health and Senior Services.
Business license types and fees: Regulations determining license
types and fees have yet to be determined. Under Missouri's medical
marijuana system, license types include cultivation, manufacturer and
dispensary.
License caps: Licenses will be determined by lottery. The number of
licenses to be issued has not been determined.
State tax requirements: A 6% tax rate will apply to nonmedical
marijuana sales in the state. Local governments may assess an
additional sales tax of up to 3%.
Out-of-state applicants: Yes.
Product types allowed: The current medical program allows all
product formats, so the recreational marijuana program is expected
to be similar, although regulations haven't been determined.
Anticipated sales launch: February 2023.
2022 population and patient numbers: As of August, there were
158,241 medical marijuana patients in Missouri, representing 2.6% of
the state's population of 6.2 million.
Predicted size of market: First-year sales of an adult-use marijuana
market in Missouri could reach up to $550 million, according
to MJBizDaily estimates, with fourth-year sales projected at
$800 million-$900 million.
Local control and opt-in/opt-out rules: Local governments may hold
a referendum to prohibit cannabis businesses.
Social equity provisions: Missouri will award 144 new licenses for
social equity and economically challenged applicants as well as
applicants harmed by the war on drugs.
* Data is from the 2022 MJBiz Factbook, MJBizDaily and MJBizMagazine,
unless otherwise noted.
Alabama
Mississippi
that is very prepared for it, " said Jon
Levine, president of MariMed, another
Massachusetts-based multistate
operator that has broken into Missouri
with a licensing agreement.
can only go in there as a management
group. We thought the best and biggest
opportunity for success was to go in
with products that are not presently in
that market, " Levine said, referring to
Betty's Eddies and Vibations, two of his
NEW LICENSES
Aside from medical businesses converting
to recreational, the only new licensing
opportunities expected in 2023 will
be for so-called microbusinesses.
It is expected that the DHSS will
award 144 microbusiness licenses.
The agency reportedly could release
microbusiness applications as early as
June and could start accepting them as
early as Sept. 4.
The DHSS will award licenses
through a lottery process that it still
must create.
" I think we'll see a significant
number of applicants for those 144 new
micro licenses, " Mueller said.
Amendment 3 has other smallbusiness-friendly
rules. For example,
it prohibits any single business owner
from possessing more than 10% of the
total licenses for marijuana cultivation,
retailers and infused productmanufacturing
facilities.
IN SEARCH OF OPPORTUNITY
Under the circumstances, entrepreneurs
familiar with Missouri say the
best way to get into this market is
through licensing agreements.
" Cultivators. Manufacturers. All have
the ability to license any products here
or do partnership deals. You have just
about every big brand that currently
operates here in Missouri, from Select
to Rove to Smokies, " Mueller said.
MariMed's Levine agreed.
" We feel like retail and cultivation are
pretty well saturated, and so we focused
on infused products. When we looked
at the state, we said, 'Boy, the state has
a lot of growers and retailers, and we
company's edibles brands.
" We executed an agreement to
basically go in with an infused license
and manage that production facility
for this group. There are limitations
on who owns licenses today that will
change with the adult-use law, and
then we'll look at what the possibilities
are, " Levine said.
For entrepreneurs that go the
licensing route, it will be imperative to
secure suppliers of cannabis biomass
to create products.
" One important thing is to make
sure you have your supply agreements
locked down and make sure that
you're able to build the inventory in
anticipation for what the projected
needs (of the recreational market) are
going to be. We don't know what that
is, but we are working on that right
now-and I think other people are as
well, " said Smith of Grön.
mjbizdaily.com | January 2023 35
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MJBizMag January 2023

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