Missouri medical cannabis sales in April were $6 million higher than in March with sales on 4/20 representing a single-day record for the state at $2.85 million, according to a press release from the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association (MoCannTrade). Since the state’s first dispensary opened in October 2020, sales have totaled nearly $336 million.
Officials now estimate that annual revenue from cannabis sales will top $360 million this year, $60 million more than was projected last month, the report says. In all, there are 188 dispensaries, 48 cultivation facilities, and 69 infused product manufacturers approved by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services – 335 such facilities now serve more than 185,000 patients and caregivers in the state.
The agency has licensed and certified a total of 390 facilities to cultivate, manufacture, test, transport, and dispense medical cannabis, including 203 dispensaries – 11 more than the legal minimum of 192 such outlets – and 63 cultivation facilities, which is three more than the legal minimum, MoCannTrade said.
As of Monday, May 2, the state reported issuing 7,853 state agent ID cards to work in medical cannabis facilities with all but 200 of those jobs added in the past year. The medical cannabis industry accounted for nearly one in 10 new Missouri jobs statewide in 2021, the organization said.
Last week, cannabis advocacy group Legal Missouri submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office twice the number of signatures needed to add an adult-use legalization question to ballots this November.
The proposal, a constitutional amendment, would allow Missourians over the age of 21 to possess, consume, purchase, and cultivate cannabis and impose a 6% sales tax which would generate an estimated $40.8 million. Tax-derived funds would be used for expungement costs, veterans’ services, drug addiction treatment, and the public defender system. The amendment also includes automatic expungement provisions.
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