Judge blocks residency rule for Missouri medical marijuana licenses

A federal judge last week permanently blocked Missouri from enforcing a requirement that medical marijuana licenses go to businesses owned by residents of the state.

Following a bench trial Thursday, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey agreed to grant a permanent injunction. Her written order has not yet been filed. News of the injunction was first reported by the cannabis newsletter GrownIn.

Laughrey granted a temporary injunction against the requirement in June in response to a 2020 lawsuit filed by Mark Toigo, a marijuana investor from Pennsylvania and minority owner in a Missouri business awarded several licenses.

A constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018 that legalized medical marijuana requires facilities to be “majority owned by natural persons who have been citizens of the state of Missouri for at least one year prior to the application.”

Read more: https://www.thepitchkc.com/judge-blocks-residency-rule-for-missouri-medical-marijuana-licenses/