The Top 5 Things to Expect After Submitting Step 1 of Your Application

After application submission, correspondence or communication from the Bureau of Medical Marijuana should be expected. While an application is being processed, staff of the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation will be in communication with applicants continuously during their Pre-licensure review, in order to prepare the most accurate, detailed, and thorough summary to present to the Board.

Applicants should expect the following during the application process:

Requests for More Information

After initial submission, applicants should expect to receive a set of “Base Questions” from the Bureau of Medical Marijuana. Each set of questions may be tailored to a specific Entity Application, but applicants should expect to provide a comprehensive overview of every business interest, whether or not the business is related to the marijuana industry.

If an applicant has large transactions or financial activity that cannot easily be determined, applicants should expect to provide detailed information regarding the nature of the transaction, the type of business activity, the purpose of the transaction, and the source of the funds.

If an applicant has been a registered caregiver, there will be a series of questions pertaining to the number of patients, compensation received, the growing of plants, and the handling of overages.

If the applicant is temporarily operating pursuant to Rule 19, there will be questions regarding the temporary operation, the source of marijuana, and whom medical marijuana is being provided to.

Request for Fingerprinting

After initial review, the Bureau of Medical Marijuana will send an email to required applicants instructing them to get fingerprinted for licensure. There will be documents attached to the email with confirmation numbers, instructions, and fingerprint forms. Applicants must bring a valid state or federal issued photo ID and a completed RI-03- Livescan Fingerprint request form to the fingerprinting appointment.  Applicants should plan to get fingerprinted in a timely manner to keep the application process moving forward.

Deficiency Notices

If information was submitted inaccurately, incomplete, or not disclosed, the Bureau of Medical Marijuana will send a notice of deficiency and request these items be corrected, additional documents be submitted, and/or specific items be clarified or explained further. Applicants should plan respond to these deficiency notices in a complete and timely manner, to keep the application moving forward.

A Waiting Period

Applicants should expect to wait around 4 months or more before getting a response from the Bureau of Medical Marijuana and/or going before the Board. An exact time frame is hard to provide, as much of it depends on how much additional follow up the Bureau of Medical Marijuana needs based on the documents and information initially submit.  Applicants should submit a complete application initially and respond in a timely manner to all communications from the Bureau of Medical Marijuana, as to keep the application moving through the process as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Several Phases In Step 1

Before moving forward in the process to Step 2, applicants should expect to go through several phases during the Step 1 Process. The Bureau of Medical Marijuana has implemented the following phases

1) Initial review

2) Background and In-depth Review and

3) Financial Review.

Once completing these phases satisfactorily, applicants will be scheduled to go before the Board for review.