Missouri Rakes in Millions in the First Four Days of Accepting Pre-Filed Application Fees

In an eye-popping press release, the Department of Health and Senior Services announced that it raked in more than $2,000,000 in pre-filed application fees.

The DHSS confirmed that more than 250 pre-filed application fee forms were collected.

The DHSS did not give a breakdown of the types of forms submitted, i.e., how many were for cultivation, dispensary or marijuana-infused products manufacturing licenses. But based on the numbers, you can assume it included a multitude of the three types.

This obviously means the competition to obtain a medical marijuana license is going to be incredibly high.

Indeed, these numbers nearly double the initial, conservative, assumptions made by the Missouri auditor’s office regarding the anticipated amount of revenue from application fees in fiscal year 2019. The auditor’s office anticipated that they would only take in $1,134,000 in application fees based on the following breakdown:

$300,000 cultivation fees

$576,000 dispensary fees

$258,000 infused products fees

But by the time applications are actually accepted, it is likely that these assumptions will be tripled, if not quadrupled, based on the substantial number of applicants that pre-paid these fees.

The DHSS reiterated, however, “early submission of applications fees does not guarantee a license or provide any competitive advantage in the application process.”

Nevertheless, with this announcement, it is likely that applicants will continue to pre-file fees in anticipation of application forms and final rules being posted (June 4) and applications being accepted (August 3).

Thus, revenue for the state will likely continue to soar over the coming months.

The DHSS also announced that it has launched a new webpage that will be dedicated to publishing the draft rules that will govern Article XVI (i.e., the Medical Marijuana Program). This will allow the public to begin the commenting process.

It is anticipated that the draft rules will be released in the “coming months,” if not sooner.

The DHSS has identified the below categories as likely division for the Medical Marijuana Program rules:

Definitions

General Provisions

Qualified Patient/Primary Caregiver

Medical Marijuana Establishments Generally

Cultivation Facility

Infused Products Manufacturing Facility

Testing Facility

Dispensary Facility

Seed to Sale Tracking

Transportation

Physician/Health Care Provider

Taxation

Penalties

Miscellaneous Provisions

We will continue to keep you updated as the draft rules are posted.

All told, the excitement for medical marijuana is obvious and the competition will be incredibly steep.