Licenses issued for some southeast Mo. medical marijuana dispensaries

MISSOURI. (KFVS) - Nearly 200 licenses were issued by the Department of Health and Senior Services for medical marijuana dispensary facilities.

Some approved dispensaries in the Heartland include:

• Bloom Medicinals of MO, LLC - Cape Girardeau
• Hayti Investments LLC - Hayti
• Sikeston Investments LLC - Sikeston
• Poplar Bluff Investments LLC - Poplar Bluff
• Missouri Medical Marijuana Collective LLC - Jackson
• Missouri Medical Marijuana Collective LLC - Kennett
• Bootheel CannaCare LLC - New Madrid
• Organic Remedies MO, Inc - Cape Girardeau
• Cape Girardeau Investments LLC - Cape Girardeau
• QPS Missouri Holdings, LLC - Cape Girardeau
• Wayne Co. Dispensary LLC - Silva
• Astro Farms Alpha LLC - Fredericktown

You can click here for the full list of approved and denied dispensaries.

The eight congressional districts in the Show-Me-State got 24 licenses each.

The Southeast Missouri region is by far the largest, and the competition was stiff with more than 100 applications for medical marijuana dispensaries.

“We hedged our bets on two different companies. One got accepted, one did not," said Quinn Strong the co-owner of Capital Real Estate Group in Cape Girardeau.

Strong said many cannabis companies were interested in their property at 350 N. Kingshighway which will be one of four medical marijuana dispensary locations in town.

“One thing that went into the location is the distance it had to be away from a school or a church," Strong said. “But also you have to have secure loading and unloading facility. You have to have security.”

Compared to the 33 other states that have legalized medical or recreation marijuana, some have more dispensaries and others have less than Missouri.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services also used a scoring system that looked at each applicants marketing plan, expected sales and vertical integration among other factors.

After seeing the list Strong noticed that a lot of companies scored well but fell just short of being approved.

“One thing I would’ve liked to have seen is Missouri let more companies get licensed,” Strong said. “Because one thing that everybody knows, which is a fact of life, is more competition leads to lower prices and higher efficiency within the business itself.”

After weighing his options, Strong decided to sign leasing agreements with established cannabis companies that have already built a track record in other states.

“As we came to find out. This was really not an open competition. Right?" Strong said. "This was a market dominated by very intelligent individuals with a lot of financial backing. So the little guy truthfully, I feel bad that kind of thought they had a chance.”

Strong added that a lot of companies with denied dispensaries lost money to rent, consulting fees and legal expenses.

Seed-to-sale facility certifications will be announced on Jan. 31.

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