Hartsburg cannabis microbusiness license approved in second round of lottery; Ashland denied

On Wednesday, July 24th, Missouri’s Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) issued 57 marijuana microbusiness licenses to top applicants drawn in the June 4th random lottery.

DCR issued two types of licenses: dispensary and wholesale. A microbusiness dispensary facility is licensed to engage in the process of dispensing marijuana product for medical or adult use. A microbusiness wholesale facility is licensed to engage in the process of cultivating and manufacturing marijuana product for medical or adult use.

Marley Magner of Hartsburg was awarded a wholesale license. Twenty-five wholesale licenses located in Ashland were denied. No applicants from Ashland or Hartsburg applied for the dispensary license.

This completed the second of three rounds for awarding microbusiness licenses. DCR issued 48 licenses from the 1,600 applicants in the first round of the lottery last October. The third and final round will happen sometime in 2025 as approved by voters in November 2022.

A minimum of six microbusiness licenses were awarded to each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. Of the six in each district, two are microbusiness dispensary licenses and four are microbusiness wholesale facility licenses.

An additional nine licenses have been made available in this second round of applications due to the revocation of licenses from round one for rule violations. The additional licenses are issued across the six congressional districts where the licenses were revoked.

The intent of microbusiness licenses is to increase representation of underprivileged groups in the state’s marijuana industry.

Those who apply come from disadvantaged communities, including those with an income cap, disabled veterans, those with previous nonviolent marijuana convictions and those who attended a low-income school district, among other criteria.

As of May, Missouri had surpassed $2.5 billion in total cannabis sales since legal marijuana became available to adults.

An additional 48 licenses will be issued through the next application/lottery window in 2025. For more information about microbusiness licensing and application requirements, visit Cannabis.Mo.Gov.

This story was contributed by Columbia Missourian staffer Xander Lundblad and a media release from Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services