A lot’s happened since Missourians voted to legalize recreational marijuana on Nov. 8, 2022.
Statewide sales reached $950 million since recreational weed began in February, and there continues to be growth in the industry’s job market.
The state is also in the midst of its first major cannabis recall, which led to the removal of more than 60,000 items from shelves, all which contained ingredients from a company that used synthetic THC to make its products.
Rebecca Rivas, a reporter who covers the cannabis industry for the Missouri Independent, said she’s interested to see how the state’s microbusiness license program plays out next year, now that licenses have been awarded.
“What we're hoping is that it does what it was expected to do, which was to provide some equalization to provide some — you know — healing, in communities that were poorly impacted by the criminalization of marijuana,” she said.
According to Rivas, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is currently reviewing this year's microbusiness applicants over concerns of possible fraudulent activity.
- Rebecca Rivas, reporter for the Missouri Independent
