How soon recreational marijuana could be ready for purchase if approved by Missouri voters

On Tuesday, November 8, Missouri voters will get to decide if marijuana should be legal for anyone 21 and older.

The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) doesn’t have a stance on whether Amendment 3 on the November ballot passes or fails but would be required to put the program into effect. But if the measure is approved by voters, how soon could Missourians buy recreational marijuana, and how is the state preparing to roll out the program?

“We don’t have an opinion on this whole thing,” Missouri’s medical marijuana director Lyndall Fraker said. “All we want to do is administer the law.”

Next Tuesday, Missouri could join 19 other states in legalizing recreational marijuana. It was four years ago that voters approved medical marijuana, sending tax revenue to veterans’ healthcare services.

“We have turned over almost $27 million to the veterans’ commission,” Fraker said.

Overall, the industry has brought in more than $500 million dollars in sales since launching in Oct. 2020. Fraker said there are about 204,000 patients and 3,000 caregivers that have licenses in Missouri.

“The constitution said we should have at least 60 cultivation facilities, 86 manufacturing facilities and 192 dispensaries, and at least two testing labs,” Fraker said. “We’re close, we’re in the 90-plus percentile there, but we are above the minimum for dispensaries. We still have about 11 cultivation facilities that still are working to open their doors.”

[Read more at Ozarks First]