Medical marijuana commission decides $15,000 fee for cultivation application

Elicia Dover with our content partner, KATV Channel 7, reports:

The medical marijuana commission decided that applicants hoping to win one of the five available cultivation licenses will have to pay $15,000 just to apply.

The application fee decided on by the commission was the maximum amount allowed under the law. The commission decided that cultivation applicants can get half of that money back if they’re rejected.

There will be five cultivation licenses given out by the commission, which will be decided on a merit basis, not a lottery system.

At the commission’s Tuesday meeting, the five members decided that an applicant having an association with a doctor or pharmacist will add merit to their application. The commission members also voted that cultivation sites must be 3,000 feet from a private or public school, church or daycare, property line to property line.

Two lawmakers addressed the commission members Tuesday about the bills already filed addressing medical marijuana.

One bill filed Tuesday would change the background checks done on applicants from a statewide check to a nationwide background check. There is also a bill filed to extend the deadline for medical marijuana operations.

The commission has to have rules in place by March 9th and applications are supposed to begin in June. There has also been a bill filed to allow for transporting marijuana from the cultivation sites to dispensaries.

The next meeting is Tuesday, January 3rd at 3:00 p.m.