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Bill designed to lower suicide rate of Missouri veterans awaits action by governor
State lawmakers tasked the Missouri Veterans Commission with a new mission. They’ve mandated the commission to make it a top priority to understand why the suicide rate among Missouri’s veterans is nearly double the state rate and one of the highest in the country. After three years of trying, Republican state Rep. Dave Griffith of […]
Legal cannabis in Missouri has generated $19 million for veterans, treatment, public defenders
Since recreational weed was legalized in 2022, it has led to more than $19 million going towards three causes — supporting veterans, expanding substance use treatment programs and adding to the Missouri Public Defenders System’s budget. “It is so rewarding to see the impact of this voter-approved program on organizations that provide vital services to […]
Flora Farms cannabis dispensary flourishes at location near the Arkansas border
JANE — Nestled along a bubbling creek at the base of a rolling hill is the Flora Farms Stateline Dispensary — just a third of a mile from the Arkansas border. On a Sunday afternoon, cars in the drive-thru line wrap around the building and about 20 cars are parked out front. Inside, budtenders at […]
Missouri judge rules local governments can stack sales tax on marijuana
A judge in St. Louis ruled Thursday that local municipalities can stack sales taxes on marijuana dispensaries, the first court ruling on a much-debated issue playing out around the state. The lawsuit was filed by Robust Missouri 3 LLC. The company saw its Florissant dispensary’s tax rate on cannabis products rise to 14.988% after both […]
Companies tied to out-of-state firms appeal revocation of social-equity cannabis licenses
Two Missouri social-equity licensees connected to a Michigan company that used Craigslist to recruit applicants have appealed the state’s decision to revoke their dispensary licenses. The Michigan company, Canna Zoned, was behind two of the 16 microbusiness dispensary licenses issued by lottery in October — Frankenstein Enemy LLC in Columbia and Seashore Rhythm LLC in […]
Tech glitch on 4/20 caused Missouri cannabis businesses to lose sales
April 20 is a day recognized globally for celebrating cannabis culture, but it’s also like the cannabis industry’s Black Friday. Dispensaries offer deals designed to inspire people to flood their stores to stock up. However on Saturday, dispensaries across the state using an inventory platform called Dutchie were hamstrung for hours by technical challenges, which […]
Missouri attorney general launches investigation of intoxicating hemp products
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into four companies Wednesday as part of an effort to crack down on intoxicating hemp products. The problem, according to Bailey, is the products in question — such Delta-8 edibles and vape pens — are not clearly labeled to indicate that they’ll get you high. “When purchasing […]
State warns social-equity marijuana license applicants of ‘predatory practices’
Veterans John and Kara Grady received a Facebook message last week from a man who was, “looking for a female veteran to be part of our dispensary license.” Being a veteran is one of the seven categories that makes people eligible to win one of the state’s social-equity marijuana licenses, called “microbusiness licenses.” The other […]
Union drive at St. Louis cannabis company could have major impact on national labor law
A push by workers in a St. Louis marijuana facility to form a union could have national ramifications on labor law, with the company hoping to block their effort by asking the federal government to intervene. At issue is a group of “post-harvest workers” at BeLeaf Medical’s Sinse cultivation facility in St. Louis. They have […]
Proposed legislation could ban the majority of Delta-8 drinks and edibles in Missouri
Proposed legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp products could potentially ban the majority of the Delta-8 drinks and edibles on the market in Missouri today, the state’s top marijuana regulator told an industry meeting late last week in St. Louis. “This is really an unanswered question,” said Amy Moore, director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis […]
Missouri revokes nine social-equity cannabis business licenses for out-of-state companies
Missouri cannabis regulators have revoked nine of the 48 social-equity cannabis licenses issued in October, after finding the companies that obtained them didn’t meet eligibility requirements. Eight were dispensaries linked to out-of-state groups and one was a wholesale facility. Among them is Canna Zoned, a Michigan company that secured two of the 16 dispensary cannabis […]
St. Louis-area cannabis workers win the right to review ballots in union election
Employees at BeLeaf Medical’s Sinse Cannabis site in St. Louis moved a step closer to unionizing last week, when their employer’s efforts to block union election votes from being counted were rebuffed by a federal labor official. Since September, BeLeaf leaders have argued before the National Labor Relations Board that the employees weren’t eligible to […]