cannabis

Missouri's marijuana regulators believe that many "designated contacts" for cannabis businesses have kept the actual eligible applicants in the dark. Now, the state is cracking down.

Years of federal prohibition and the resulting limits on research mean the science about marijuana is skimpy at best. Missouri has budgeted $2.5 million for a public information campaign about the health risks of marijuana use.

Of the 96 microbusiness licenses issued by Missouri through a lottery since the program’s inception last year, cannabis consultant David Brodsky is connected to seven. They are all under investigation or facing revocation.

A circuit court in May ruled that both a county and a local municipality can impose a 3% sales tax at dispensaries in their jurisdictions. That's led to marijuana sales tax rates of nearly 18% in some places.

Missouri's microbusiness program was sold as a way to help victims of the War on Drugs get a toehold in the burgeoning industry. But contracts reveal out-of-state companies or industry insiders repeatedly attempted to use qualified applicants to win the licenses and then shut them out of the profit.

Following a lawsuit from the state's hemp industry, Missouri health regulators will stop embargoing products simply because they contain hemp-derived THC. Instead, they'll focus on identifying "misbranded" products.

Under Missouri's new rules that require plain packaging for marijuana products, items must be individually approved by the state. Licensees were up against a Sept. 1 deadline, and not all got the green light, meaning some manufacturers are sitting on products they can't sell.

Parson's joint task force between the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office will seek to get unrelated hemp-derived edibles off of shelves, and build an investigation into "deceptive marketing practices."

More than 135,000 marijuana products were recalled last week, including vapes, edibles and pre-rolled joints. The state says no adverse reactions have been reported yet.

Gov. Mike Parson signed an executive order this month banning intoxicating hemp products and threatening penalties to any establishment with a Missouri liquor license or that sells food products for selling them. Details of how it will be enforced are still being written.

The collaborative will bring people with various levels of experience in the cannabis industry together to discuss the potential federal rescheduling of marijuana, Farm Bill revisions and other subjects related to the cannabis market in Missouri.

For the second year in a row, dispensaries across the state experienced IT problems on the industry’s biggest and most important sales day.