(1) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(a), the department shall issue at least five but not more than eight licenses to operate a cannabis cultivation facility. (2) (a) The department may issue a number of licenses to operate a cannabis cultivation facility that, in addition to the licenses described in Subsection (1), does not cause the total number of licenses to exceed 15 if the department determines, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services and after an annual or more frequent analysis of the current and anticipated market for medical cannabis, that each additional license is necessary to provide an adequate supply, quality, or variety of medical cannabis to medical cannabis cardholders. (b) If the recipient of one of the initial licenses described in Subsection (1) ceases operations for any reason or otherwise abandons the license, the department may but is not required to grant the vacant license to another applicant based on an analysis as described in Subsection (2)(a). (3) If there are more qualified applicants than the number of available licenses for cannabis cultivation facilities under Subsections (1) and (2), the department shall evaluate the applicants and award the limited number of licenses described in Subsections (1) and (2) to the applicants that best demonstrate: (a) experience with establishing and successfully operating a business that involves: (i) complying with a regulatory environment; (ii) tracking inventory; and (iii) training, evaluating, and monitoring employees; (b) an operating plan that will best ensure the safety and security of patrons and the community; (c) positive connections to the local community; and (d) the extent to which the applicant can increase efficiency and reduce the cost to patients of medical cannabis. (4) The department may conduct a face-to-face interview with an applicant for a license that the department evaluates under Subsection (3). (5) The licensing board may not issue more than 18 tier one cannabis processing facility licenses.
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