Majority of Missouri medical marijuana licensees apply to join adult-use market

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More than half of Missouri’s medical marijuana retailers, cultivators and manufacturers have applied to sell products in the state’s newly established adult-use market.

“Well over half of the 370-plus licensees we have operating now have applied” for recreational permits, Lyndall Fraker, who leads the state’s MMJ program and is overseeing the adult-use market on an interim basis, told Springfield TV station KOLR.

The process will be more of a simple review than a comprehensive renewal process.

“We plan to review as the (Missouri) constitution asks us to do, and we certainly anticipate all of them being approved,” Fraker said.

Under the state constitution, the Department of Health and Senior Services has until Feb. 6 to approve those applications, but Fraker signaled that approvals could come in January.

New marijuana laws in Missouri, approved through a ballet initiative last month in the traditionally conservative state, went into effect Dec. 15 and include allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to 3e ounces of marijuana.

Medical marijuana retailers in Missouri will be the first in line to serve the expanded recreational market, which could reach $550 million in first-year sales, according to MJBizDaily estimates, with fourth-year sales projected to jump to $800 million-$900 million.