In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that a lower court was justified in ordering the state health department to disclose medical marijuana application info that it had argued was confidential. The Department of Health and Senior Services refused to provide applications of businesses that were awarded licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana.
Tuesday’s ruling stemmed from an appeal filed by Kings Garden Midwest, which was denied licenses for both of its applications to grow medical marijuana. As part of the company’s appeal, it requested complete copies of approved applications to prove its belief that the company’s answers were similar to those who had been granted licenses.
An analysis by The Independent and The Columbia Missourian previously found that of the 192 dispensary licenses issued by the state, there were several instances where a single entity was connected to more than five dispensary licenses, a violation of Missouri’s constitution.
The department of health’s decision to cap the number of licenses for the cultivation, manufacture, and sale of medical marijuana, and the process by which those select licenses were awarded, has been the subject of lawsuits, complaints from denied applicants, and scrutiny from lawmakers.
The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the denied applicants’ right to not only appeal their denial but also asserted that confidential application information is subject to discovery as part of the process. Judge George Draper wrote without all of the information that formed the basis of states’ decisions, no meaningful review of that decision can occur. The ruling’s impacts may be far-reaching and open an avenue for not just Kings Garden Midwest but hundreds of denied licensees who have pending appeals before state regulators, to gain access to information of successful applicants that have been shrouded in secrecy.
According to medical marijuana data as of this month, Missouri licenses have been issued for 85 manufacturing facilities, 58 cultivation facilities, and 202 dispensaries, although not all have been approved to operate.
KTTN was advised in July of 2020 that Kings Garden Midwest LLC was approved by the state for a Trenton location on Pleasant Plain to be used as a medical marijuana manufacturing facility, but to our best knowledge, no other information has been released about the California company’s proposed location in Trenton.
In the Department of Health and Senior Services website review of “approved medical marijuana operations”, there’s no listing of Kings Garden Midwest LLC in Trenton. KTTN saw in the medical marijuana dispensary facility licenses, area locations include Mo Med LLC in Chillicothe, Red Stag Retail in Gallatin, plus those in Cameron, Macon, and Kirksville.
In the medical marijuana-infused product manufacturing category, approval to operate was extended to companies for facilities in the cities of Cameron, Carrollton, and Macon. Those three north Missouri cities are listed for approved cultivation of medical marijuana.
In the category of medical marijuana laboratory testing, Green Orchard Labs has applied for a license in Chillicothe but has yet to be approved to operate.
