Rhode Island has opened a dispensary license application window that will run until December 15, 2020. The application window will award six retail licenses across Rhode Island, with three of the licenses being awarded in markets that already have at least one dispensary (Providence, Portsmouth and Warwick). Curious about applying in the Ocean State and wanna learn a little more? Keep reading:

2020 Rhode Island Medical Dispensary Application Window

• Rhode Island is a medical-only state, there are only three state-licensed “compassion centers” serving the state’s medical cannabis patients currently. Six new dispensaries is a substantial increase for the state of 1 million.
• Applying is a little trickier than typical. Not only is there a competitive application cycle calling for would-be businesses to meet the criteria, but, for all qualifying applicants, there will then be a lottery to select the winners.
• What are those competitive application requirements? Well, for starters:
  • There’s a $10,000 application
  • Disclosure of operating capital, ownership group, who your investors are..
  • To qualify for the lottery, applicants must also maintain compliance with local zoning requirements, setbacks from schools, business plan, marketing plan, how many employees you’ll hire, etc.
  • Then there’s the lottery. All qualified applicants will be invited to, and required to attend, the lottery drawing.
• Where it gets really cute is here: Applicants can apply for more than one zone but can only be awarded for one zone. If an applicant wins in two, they choose where they want and then there’s another drawing for the other zone.
• Oh, and there’s an annual licensing fee of $500,000. That’s probably the highest A.L.F. in the country.

Despite the costs, Rhode Island with its lovely beaches and gorgeous Narragansett Bay, to say nothing of Providence or Newport or Pawtucket, could be a nice move into the East Coast’s burgeoning cannabis markets. Particularly, for operators looking to move into Portland, Maine and parlay both into a solid twofer?

Curious about applying for a Rhode Island medical cannabis compassion center license? Want to learn about more possibilities in Portland, Maine? You know who to call.