Seven companies have applied to sell low-THC medical marijuana at 21 separate locations in Iowa.
The state is expected to grant licenses for five locations next month.
Applicants paid a $5,000 fee for each application and won’t be able to open until early 2019, the Des Moines Register reported.
The marijuana products can’t be smoked or eaten, and THC potency is limited to 3%.
Iowa passed legislation last year to allow medical marijuana retailing, and the state has already licensed one marijuana producer, MedPharm, a new company in Des Moines.
MedPharm is owned by the president of a Des Moines dietary supplement company, Kemin Industries.
The company applied for five of the 21 dispensary locations and is lobbying for a higher THC cap on medical marijuana, the newspaper reported.
Iowa currently has just 305 patients with permission to use medical marijuana.
A bill to lift THC limits on MMJ and expand the list of qualifying medical conditions is pending in the Iowa legislature.
