Local medical marijuana cultivator applicants denied

Desmond Morris’ The Wholesome Bud Co. LLC's license was conditionally denied.

License for Weed

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services plans to award nearly 350 medical marijuana facility licenses by the end of January 2020. The state will grant 24 dispensary licenses in each congressional district, 60 cultivation licenses, 86 infused-product manufacturing licenses and 10 testing facility licenses.
The local groups to receive licenses so far are:

Transportation facility:
• CST Transportation LLC, Walnut Grove

Testing facility:
• Botannis Labs Mo. Corp., Springfield
• ContiCorp LLC, Galena

Upcoming announcements:
• Jan. 10: Infused-product manufacturer licenses
• Jan. 24: Dispensary licenses
• Jan. 31: Seed-to-sale licenses

Over half of the local medical marijuana entrepreneurs looking to open a cultivation facility in the Springfield area have been denied by the state.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services began awarding its selections today for the 60 medical marijuana cultivation facility licenses available across the state. Eleven applications were submitted from the Queen City area.

Among the license denials are former NFL player Grant Wistrom’s Revival 98 LLC and Desmond Morris’ The Wholesome Bud Co. LLC. Both entrepreneurs were planning a vertically integrated business model once infused-product manufacturing and dispensary licenses are announced in January, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Morris said his license was conditionally denied, which he said means there’s a chance The Wholesome Bud could receive a license if a winning group denies theirs. However, he said it’s unlikely that would happen, noting the competitive nature of the bids.

“We’re not feeling too good about it this second, but we’re hopeful and we’re going to keep fighting,” Morris said of the upcoming license announcements for dispensaries and infused-product manufacturers.

Other local applicants who did not receive a license, according to the owners, are:
• D Squared Investments One;
• D Squared Investments Two;
• D Squared Investments Three;
• Mo Agricultural Group LLC; and
• Ozark Mountain Grow Co. LLC.

Four more local groups still stand a chance in the competitive process: 1140 N. Eldon Cultivation LLC, Ascend Missouri LLC, Astro Farms Beta LLC and MOVA Cultivation LLC. Representatives of those applicants could not be reached Thursday morning.

The state Health Department had not announced the statewide cultivator selections as of 11:30 a.m.

The department will continue dishing out around 350 licenses for medical marijuana facility bids through Jan. 31. The next announcement is Jan. 10 for infused-product manufacturing facility certifications.