Missouri picks 48 cannabis microbusiness applicants in lottery

Forty-eight applicants in Missouri have been chosen in the second round of a licensing lottery to receive cannabis microbusiness permits.

The lottery drawing Tuesday selected the winners of 33 microbusiness wholesale licenses and 24 microbusiness retail permits.

Applicants did not have to be Missouri residents, although majority owners of a marijuana business in the state are required to meet at least one eligibility criteria, such as:

• Having a disability connected to military service.
• A conviction for a nonviolent marijuana offense.
• Residing in a qualifying ZIP code.

The application period for the second round, which closed April 29, drew 2,083 total applications – 734 for wholesale and 1,349 for retail.

Lottery applicants not selected in the second round are eligible to reapply or can request a refund of their application fee.

A total of 144 microbusiness licenses will be issued by the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) through three random lotteries held over 18 months, according to details released by the agency.

A third-round lottery for 48 microbusiness licenses will be conducted next year, the DHSS has indicated.

In the first lottery round, in October, Missouri picked 48 winners of cannabis microbusiness licenses from among 1,600-plus applicants.

After launching an adult-use market in February 2023, Missouri eclipsed $1.3 billion in sales last year, despite a widespread recall of more than 60,000 marijuana products that upended the state’s marijuana industry for months.