Florida-based marijuana inventory tracking firm Metrc lost an appeal in Missouri over whether the company was contractually allowed to charge licensed medical cannabis businesses extra money for state-mandated plant tags.
The court loss, according to Law360, follows an initial ruling by a district court that found the state was correct in its position that Metrc was prohibited from charging marijuana companies extra for its tags.
Both courts agreed with state officials that the cost of the tags should have been included in Metrc’s initial proposed cost for implementation when it won the state contract in 2019.
Metrc sued the state that same year, arguing it should have the right to charge businesses for the tags, which it claimed weren’t covered by the state contract fee of $5 million.
According to the appellate ruling quoted by Law360, “Metrc’s arguments are refuted by the plain language of the (request for proposal) which required Metrc to include in its firm, fixed price all costs Metrc intended to charge for its seed-to-sale tracking solution to function for both internal and external users.”
A Metrc spokesperson told the news service that the company was disappointed in the ruling but pledged to work with the state to find a “mutually beneficial agreement” that will “support a safe medical cannabis market in Missouri.”
