More than 200 medical cannabis businesses now approved to operate in Missouri
The start of summer and approaching July 4th holiday bring yet another milestone for Missouri’s blooming medical cannabis industry, as more than 200 licensed operators are now approved to do business in the state.
Just eight months after the state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in October 2020, 125 dispensaries across Missouri are now approved to operate. New retail dispensaries are opening across Missouri on a near-daily basis.
The 201 facilities to receive state operating approval to date also includes five testing labs, 23 cultivators and 32 manufacturers of infused products such as cannabis edibles, concentrates and vape cartridges. These facilities can be found in both urban and rural areas across Missouri.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services has licensed a total of 375 facilities to cultivate, manufacture, test, transport and dispense medical marijuana to Missouri patients.
Patient enrollment also continues to rise, recently eclipsing 120,000, while cumulative sales through June are expected to surpass $70 million.
Another 3,500 Missourians have been issued state agent ID cards to work in medical cannabis facilities. The industry is expected to generate nearly twice that many jobs, more than $800 million in direct spending and another $570 million in indirect spending over the course of its first full year of sales and operation.
“From Hannibal to Neosho, Chillicothe to Poplar Bluff, St. Louis to Kansas City and all points between, medical cannabis patients across our state now have access to safe, legal and regulated medicine,” said Andrew Mullins, executive director of MoCannTrade (The Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association).
“MoCannTrade and its members enter the summer with lofty expectations, as even more patients obtain their cannabis cards, business owners are creating thousands of new jobs, and our industry generates millions in new tax revenue for the state thanks to an additional 4 percent sales tax dedicated to the health and care of veterans.”
With Missouri planning to authorize a total of 192 dispensaries statewide, medical cannabis patients here will have greater access than in each of the other 19 states with similar programs, behind only Oklahoma.
By comparison, the state of Illinois —which with 12.67 million residents has a population more than double that of Missouri — currently has only 55 licensed retail outlets open.
That’s less than one-third of Missouri’s eventual total for a program which began several years earlier.
Under Article IX of the state Constitution, Missouri residents with cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma and 20 other qualifying conditions can purchase or cultivate medical cannabis with a physician’s certification. The law also provides physicians with the discretion to certify patients who have other chronic and debilitating medical conditions that could benefit from medical marijuana, and legally protects their right to have such conversations.
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MoCannTrade (The Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association) is an association of business owners, health care providers, professionals, patients and residents responsible for helping to implement a successful, safe, compliant medical marijuana program in Missouri.
The membership-based association is directed by a board of diverse professionals experienced in medical marijuana, healthcare, law, pharmaceutical, science, agriculture, law enforcement, security, commercial real estate, finance, public affairs and regulatory sectors.
To learn more about MoCannTrade please visit www.mocanntrade.org
