State approves four medical marijuana dispensaries in Cape, one in Jackson

Four medical marijuana dispensary licenses in Cape Girardeau and one in Jackson have been approved by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The five licenses were among 192 on a list of approved dispensary licenses statewide released by DHSS Friday afternoon.

In Cape Girardeau, licenses were approved for the following license applicants:

• Bloom Medicinals of MO LLC, 69 Doctors' Park
• Organic Remedies MO Inc., 350 N. Kingshighway
• Cape Girardeau Investments LLC, 420 Siemers Drive
• QPS Missouri Holdings LLC, 772 S. Kingshighway

In Jackson, a dispensary license was approved for Missouri Medical Marijuana Collective LLC, to be located at 2387 W. Jackson Blvd.

The five dispensary licenses approved in Cape Girardeau and Jackson were among 24 approved in Missouri's Eighth Congressional District. Missouri's remaining 168 dispensary licenses were equally divided among the state's other seven congressional districts.

Approximately 1,200 dispensary licenses applications, submitted by various entities across the state, were reviewed and ranked by DHSS. The approved applications were among the highest-scoring in each congressional district. Applications that were denied either did not meet all eligibility requirements or were simply scored lower than the ones approved by DHSS.

Elsewhere in the Eighth Congressional District, 19 license applications have been approved for dispensaries in Farmington, Festus, Fredericktown, Hayti, Hillsboro, Kennett, Mountain Grove, New Madrid, Park Hills, Poplar Bluff, Rolla, Saint James, Salem, Sikeston and West Plains. With four license approvals, Cape Girardeau will potentially have than any other community in the region.

Nearly 100 applications from the Eighth Congressional District, including several in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, were denied.

In a statement issued by DHSS immediately before the release of the approved dispensary application list, Lyndall Fraker, director of the department's section for medical marijuana regulation said, "We are committed to making medical marijuana safe and accessible for qualified patients in Missouri. Today's milestone represents over a year of effort by many people to put the final piece in place so that appropriately screened patients in Missouri can receive medical marijuana."

Dispensaries in Cape Girardeau and Jackson must still obtain business licenses on the local level and sale of medical marijuana won't begin until product can be produced in the state by licensed cultivation and manufacturing facilities.

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