The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has closed the latest application window for cannabis microbusiness licenses in the state.

The application period ended July 28. The Division of Cannabis Regulation will now verify that submitted applications meet the minimum requirements for inclusion in the lottery drawing scheduled for September 9.

Qualifying applications will be divided by Missouri’s eight congressional districts and license type, either dispensary or wholesale.

Applicants will receive an identifier before their applications are submitted to the Missouri Lottery, allowing the drawings to be conducted without applicants’ identities.

Lottery results will be published by congressional district on the DCR website when they become available.

The number of licenses available during this round reflects complications during the first two rounds of the program.

Several previously selected licenses were revoked, while others were never awarded because of issues that included applicants failing to meet eligibility requirements and concerns involving applications submitted as part of coordinated groups.

As a result, this round includes licenses needed to replace those vacancies in addition to the licenses originally scheduled for the third round.

Missouri’s microbusiness program was created to provide a path to cannabis facility ownership for eligible individuals who might otherwise face barriers to entering the regulated industry, one of the largest critiques about the original license application period was the lack of accessibility because of steep asset requirements and high application fees.

Microbusinesses must be majority-owned and operated by individuals who satisfy at least one eligibility criterion established under Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution.

The program includes two license types. Microbusiness dispensary licenses authorize retail sales to patients, caregivers, and adult-use consumers. Microbusiness wholesale licenses allow operators to cultivate, process, manufacture, package, and sell cannabis products within the microbusiness market.

Microbusinesses generally may conduct business only with other licensed microbusinesses. Microbusiness owners also may not hold an ownership interest in an existing medical, comprehensive, or other microbusiness marijuana facility, creating a submarket separate from the comprehensive market in Missouri, which has seen staggering compression in recent years, offering smaller companies access to retail shelves directly with micro-dispensaries.

Following the lottery, DCR will review the highest-drawn applications to determine whether applicants meet ownership eligibility, minimum application requirements, and other compliance standards.

If a top-drawn application is found not to meet the eligibility requirements, the application is denied and the next top-drawn application for the same facility type in the congressional district will be reviewed.