A company that wants to oversee the medical cannabis industry in Missouri has initiated a protest after the contract was bestowed upon a rival.

Florida-based BioTrackTHC has filed a protest with medical cannabis regulators in regards to the “Show Me State’s” decision to award a cannabis licensing and seed-to-sale tracking contract to Metrc, LLC.

Metrc provides end-to-end tracking and tracing for government agencies regulating legalized cannabis. According to BioTrackTHC, the scoring was inaccurate due to the fact that Metrc’s parent company Franwell Inc. did not disclose fees to cultivators and vendors. Franwell is also a Florida-based company.

Based on the details of the appeal filed by BioTrackTHC on Thursday, April 22, the state of Missouri should not have awarded the company a medical cannabis tracking contract because it failed to divulge its fees. The ideal outcome for the plaintiff will see the contract voided by the State of Missouri and instead, awarded to BioTrackTHC. Whether or not this happens is yet to be seen.

The center of Missouri State’s administration of medical cannabis is where the contract is currently resting. It is inclusive of tracking the plant from seed-to-sale, registering patients qualified to buy cannabis legally, and licensing facilities to sell the plant and its derivatives. Based in Lakeland, Florida, Metrc offered lower fees to the state but failed to reveal how much it would be charging cultivators and vendors. This is according to a report by the Post-Dispatch.

How does BioTrackTHC’s seed-to-sale tracking work?

BioTrack THC boasts two different types of seed-to-sale tracking systems. One is used for businesses, while the other is solely intended for government use. Each seed, clone, and the plant is issued through the system and given a unique identifier number that contains essential information about the product, from the day it was planted to the growth stages, strain details and employee interaction information.

The system is able to detect when inventory is sold, destroyed, or whether it remains in the inventory. This ensures that nothing slips off the radar and prevents illicit activity from jeopardizing the legal government-regulated market. Through utilizing these systems, government regulators can successfully access lab test results and individual cannabis business reports. With this information, lawbreaking and malicious activity can be avoided.

Metrc lands four contracts, BioTrackTHC lands two

Both market leaders in providing cannabis tracking systems for states, Metrc and BioTrackTHC have been going head-to-head in the battle to bag contracts for a while now. Last year, Metrc scooped four, while BioTrackTHC won two of a total of six potential contracts.

In November, a medical cannabis amendment was passed by Missouri voters. Commercial license applications are expected to be released by the state at the beginning of June, with the review process commencing in August.