Hundreds denied Missouri medical marijuana business licenses — and it’s not clear why

Leisa Stevens thought she had compiled a fairly competitive application to start growing cannabis on 30 acres near Kansas City International Airport.

To get in on Missouri’s fledgling medical marijuana business, she scoured the state’s rules, hired an engineering firm and brought an attorney on board. She found a security expert and worked with an experienced pot grower in Colorado as she made plans for her Prairie Land Farms.

So far, Stevens said she’s invested about $160,000 in personal retirement funds to build her cannabis business.

So she was understandably disappointed when she learned in late December that her score wasn’t high enough to win one of the state’s 60 cultivation licenses. But the more she dug into her scorecard — graded by a third-party firm hired by the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services — the more puzzled she grew.

On several questions, she received zero points, despite having provided lengthy responses. One asked applicants to submit resumes of principal officers. Stevens did that, but still received no points. Same goes for questions asking for a marketing plan and proof that her firm had a right to build on the proposed site. [Read more at the Kansas City Star]