Missouri’s First Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Now Open

Missouri’s first two dispensaries opened over the weekend, nearly two years after the state passed a constitutional amendment legalizing medical cannabis, the Associated Press reports. The dispensaries, located near St. Louis, are the first of 192 dispensaries that the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services intends to have open by the end of the year.

“Missouri patients have always been our North Star as we work to implement the state’s medical marijuana program. We greatly appreciate how hard everyone has worked so that patients can begin accessing a safe and well-regulated program.” — Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, via AP

Patients stood in long lines and paid up to $125 per eighth to purchase some of Missouri’s first legal medical cannabis products.

Kim Haller, a patient suffering from MS who had grown frustrated with her treatments — which included expensive medications and injections — told the AP, “It helps with my spasticity, which means my muscles don’t move like I like them to, and sleep.”

Missouri passed a full-plant medical cannabis constitutional amendment in 2018. After registering with the state, patients can purchase up to four ounces for a 30-day supply and can grow up to six plants at home. Two caregivers growing in the same space can have up to twelve clones, vegetative plants, and flowering plants. If one of those caregivers is a patient, an additional six plants in each category is allowed, according to Missouri patient FAQs.