Licensing

More than 500 applications have been filed to sell medical cannabis in Missouri, including 175 hopeful businesses across the St. Louis metro area. At least nine of the applicants represent out-of-state entities looking to enter Missouri’s upcoming market.

Applications are flooding in for Maryland’s 14 new medical cannabis operator licenses; the additional licenses are aimed at increasing the number of minority- and women-owned businesses in the industry.

Missouri officials have decided to award 60 medical cannabis cultivator licenses; additionally, 86 manufacturing licenses and 192 dispensary licenses will be issued.

Utah is set to license 10 medical cannabis cultivators; outdoor cultivators will be allowed to grow up to four acres while indoor grows are limited to 100,000 square feet.

Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture has issued more than 2,600 licenses for industrial hemp cultivation this year. Last year, there were just 226.

Mass Alternative Care in Chicopee, Massachusetts is set to receive Hampden County’s first adult-use cannabis business license; the company will sell medical and adult-use cannabis products out of the same building.

The first Washington state cannabis canopy report shows that a number of Washington licensees have underdeveloped cannabis cultivation operations compared to their canopy allotment from the state.

Maryland cannabis operator Curio Wellness has withdrawn the lawsuit filed late last month against the state’s Medical Cannabis Commission over its plan to issue new cannabis licenses to minority-owned companies.

Unlicensed dispensaries in Michigan have been given yet another extension for licensure after dispensary owners successfully argued they were only denied a license because the state erroneously recorded its tax payments.

A Massachusetts investigation aims to uncover whether or not two of the state’s large cannabis companies have thwarted state rules regarding the number of licenses that a single company can hold.

Maryland medical cannabis firm Curio is filing suit against the state Medical Cannabis Commission for allegedly violating its own rules by soliciting license applications without first completing a supply and demand survey.

Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor Kevin Meyer has given the final sign-off on rules making Alaska the first state to allow on-site cannabis consumption in the state.

San Francisco will start issuing permits for events where patrons will be allowed to purchase and consume cannabis, starting with events that have historically attracted heavy cannabis use.

The Governor of Michigan is dissolving the all-volunteer Marijuana Licensing Board and handing over regulation duties to a paid government agency that operates under the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

The California legislature must pass emergency legislation to prevent a near-complete stoppage of cannabis production in the state by summer.

Massachusetts cannabis regulators are considering a fix to the lack of diversity in the state’s cannabis market and discussed several strategies, including the possibility of interest-free loans.

Regulators in California have begun serving warrants and seizing product from unlicensed cannabis businesses in the state.

Rule changes proposed by a Boston City Councilor include provisions to ease access by minorities and those previously charged with cannabis crimes.

Approved licensees can begin constructing their retail facilities but must pass final inspection before opening.

A significant portion of the winners are individuals or sole proprietorships, not established companies.

Vancouver regulators are threatening fines or jail time for unlicensed cannabis businesses that don’t comply with orders to close.

The 25-license limit is “only temporary” and is intended to ensure a constant supply of cannabis.

Legal protection that was afforded for much of fall 2018 has ended after a judge dismissed the final cannabis licensing lawsuit against the state.

Pre-applications require a large fee and do not guarantee priority in the final licensing process, which will occur after June 4.