Missouri’s Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) issued 48 marijuana microbusiness licenses to top applicants drawn in the August 28 lottery. To ensure the integrity of the random drawing, the Missouri Lottery conducted the drawing without reference to the identities of the applicants. DCR received more than 1,600 applications during the July 27-August 10 application period.
The state defines a microbusiness is a marijuana facility license issued only to eligible individuals and entities. These licenses are essentially small businesses that are designed to allow marginalized or under-represented individuals to participate in the legal marijuana market.
Six microbusiness licenses were awarded within 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. Prior to issuing the licenses, DCR conducted a review of the drawn applications to determine whether applicants were eligible to receive a license.
Any applicant not chosen by lottery is eligible for a refund, which must be requested by submitting a microbusiness application refund request form. A refund may be granted if the applicant certifies it met the criteria for a license and has no pending or future litigation. Requests for a refund will be accepted beginning Nov. 2, 2023, and the microbusiness application refund request form and refund instructions will be available on the Department website by that date.
An additional 48 licenses will be issued through each subsequent application/lottery window in 2024 and 2025.
