Many cannabis microbusiness license winners in Missouri claim to have encountered obstacles when attempting to get their businesses up and running.
Of the 96 microbusiness licenses that have been awarded since the inception of the program, nearly half have been revoked or could potentially be revoked—with another three under investigation.
James Ryan, winner of a wholesale microbusiness license in Congressional District Five, has had an interesting experience working with the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) and state in attempts to get his business, Higher Love, transitioned from selling CBD-infused baked goods to THC-infused products.
Ryan says that, in 2023, he applied and won in the first round of the microbusiness license lottery, thinking that a nonviolent marijuana felony from 2019 that he received in Kansas would make him eligible. After conversations over email with the state about how to get operations underway while remaining within compliance, he says that he got a notice of pending revocation in February 2024. Ryan claims that the state and DCR told him the reason for it was because of his nonviolent felony.
“They did not pay attention to it, didn’t listen to us at all—felt like they just didn’t care anymore,” he says.
DCR Executive Director Amy Moore could not comment on this specific license, but she did mention that while there are certain felonies that qualify an individual for the microbusiness license program, there are also instances where a nonviolent marijuana felony could disqualify applicants.
“Generally, there are particular marijuana convictions that would make an individual eligible,” she says. “And there’s an analysis to be done of the actual background record to see if what occurred is of the type that make them eligible. Then, interestingly, we still have to do the review for owners related to disqualifying felony offenses, and it’s a different set that ends up disqualifying you.”
After reviewing the information in Article XIV regarding what would qualify and disqualify an applicant, there are some key requirements that may have gone unnoticed for some applicants.
A felony, regardless of which state the conviction occurred, will disqualify an individual unless the department decides that “the person’s conviction was for a marijuana offense, other than provision of marijuana to a minor; The person’s conviction was for a nonviolent crime for which he or she was not incarcerated and that is more than five years old; Or more than five years have passed since the person was released from parole or probation, and he or she has not been convicted of any subsequent felony criminal offenses.”
“It is a bit of mental gymnastics here,” she says. “In one set of circumstances, that makes you eligible, particularly eligible, for a particular thing—Another set of circumstances actually will disqualify you.”
Because Ryan’s felony occurred in 2019 and he applied in 2023, according to state regulations, not enough time has passed since the incident (five years), making his felony a disqualifier. But that does not change the fact that the department has been unable to translate this information to Ryan since he received a notice of pending revocation last February.
He says that he and his team offered to make someone else who met the eligibility criteria the designated owner to maintain the license, yet did not receive a response from the state.
Amendment 2 Consultants Founder John Payne—who had a hand in forming the microbusiness license program—says that the language used in Article XIV “is open to interpretation.”
“I was rooting for the guy,” Payne says. “And I think that, if it were me making the interpretation there, I would say that it should be [eligible] if it’s the type of felony that is expungeable by Article XIV.”
Ryan is not the only license holder who says the state and department have had poor communication in terms of helping individuals seek resolutions. In an interview with The Pitch, Dillon Mapes—another license holder—said that, at times, he and his team have waited up to a month to receive responses in correlation with getting their business operating, while he is required to submit paperwork on “seven-day deadlines.”
He also mentioned that the department’s communication has increased since the town hall meeting that was held in February.
After Ryan received the notice of pending revocation, he and his team attempted to schedule an appeal, which has now been an ongoing process for a year, as the state has tried to dismiss the case, according to Ryan. He claims that he initially had an appeal scheduled for September 2024 that got postponed to February of this year. This hearing was also postponed.
“The state filed with the judge a couple weeks ago to just have the whole thing dismissed without even showing any empathy or giving us a chance to kind of talk and explain ourselves, or negotiate other options to retain our license,” Ryan says.
Ryan claims that he was not aware of the DCR’s draft of rule revisions until our phone call.
After learning about some of the details within the draft, specifically regarding the aspect of revoked licensees being barred from the industry, he said, “This is exactly why I want to bring this to people’s attention. For the predatory companies out there, I completely understand, but, for me, I’m just a guy who loves to bake and wants to make delicious edibles that people can enjoy.”
Ryan began his company after seeing how treatment from cannabinoids helped his mother with her tremors. He combined his love for baking with alternative care.
“I still want to be in the cannabis community and industry, but after my experience being behind the scenes, the greed and dishonesty from those claiming to help, it’s making me take something that I love as a passion and just not even want to do it anymore,” he says.
Ryan is among many licensees who have grown frustrated with how the state and DCR have handled the program, which was explicitly created to uplift disadvantaged communities, instead of forcing them to play catch-up in yet another industry.
“I have emails from them stating that they want to help bring us to compliance, that they don’t want to revoke any licenses, and then I get a revocation letter,” Ryan says. “But the entire program is made for helping people who can’t normally afford a comprehensive license. We just want to work with the state and be a part of making this program successful together.”
After James Ryan won a microbusiness license, he received a notice of pending revocation without clarification on how to resolve the issue. Read More
