State OKs permits for Rx pot transport

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has approved 21 applications for medical marijuana transportation licenses, including applications from entities in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Organizations approved for medical marijuana transportation are responsible for carrying materials from an originating facility to various destinations, such as medical marijuana dispensaries.

The approved Cape Girardeau and Jackson applications were listed as 5th Meridian Group Inc., 321 Springwood Lane in Cape Girardeau, and KLN Logistics LLC, 120 Faith Ridge in Jackson.

A third transportation application from Southeast Missouri, from 303 Cannabis LLC in Poplar Bluff, was also approved.

DHSS also denied three applications for various reasons, such as failure to meet minimum qualifications or falling below the minimum score required for approval, during the application scoring process.

According to the state's guidelines related to the medical marijuana transportation process, all vehicles used to transport medical-grade cannabis cannot be marked in any way to indicate the vehicle's contents. Transport vehicles also must be equipped with lockboxes, video monitoring equipment and GPS tracking technology.

Last week DHSS approved applications for 10 medical marijuana testing facilities throughout the state, but none in Southeast Missouri.

According to a timeline released earlier this month, DHSS is scheduled to release a list of approved medical marijuana cultivation facilities by the end of this week. Additional licenses, including those for manufacturing facilities and dispensaries, are scheduled to be announced in January.

The state has received hundreds of applications for dispensaries and cultivation facilities, including dozens from interested parties in Cape Girardeau County and throughout Southeast Missouri.

More information about the state's medical marijuana program, including lists of approved and denied license applicants, can be found on the DHSS website, health.mo.gov.

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