Missouri Officials Transfer $11 Million In Marijuana Revenue To Fund Drug Treatment, Veterans Health And Legal Services

Missouri officials transferred nearly $11 million in revenue from adult-use marijuana sales this week, routing the money toward veterans healthcare, legal assistance for low-income people and drug treatment and recovery services.

News of the latest transfer of cannabis funds was announced on Thursday by the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). The state’s voter-approved legalization amendment in 2022 specified that fees and taxes from the adult-use cannabis system go to the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC), the Missouri State Public Defender and DHSS itself.

Of the total $10,918,344 being disbursed, each of the three agencies received $3,639,448. MVC must use the funds exclusively for healthcare and other services by military veterans and their families, while the State Public Defender must use the money to fund legal assistance for low-income Missourians.

DHSS will use its share of the revenue to fuel a grant program aimed at increasing access to “evidence-based, low-barrier drug addiction treatment prioritizing medically proven treatment and overdose prevention and reversal methods” as well as “an emphasis on reintegrating recipients into their local communities.” To that end, the proceeds will also support overdose prevention education, job placement, housing and counseling for people with substance use disorders, according to the DHHS announcement.

In May, state regulators announced that Missouri had put more than $19 million in cannabis revenue toward veterans, legal services and drug treatment since legalization took effect in the state in 2022.

“It is so rewarding to see the impact of this voter-approved program on organizations that provide vital services to Missourians,” Amy Moore, director of the Division of Cannabis Regulation, part of DHHS, said at the time.

Moore told lawmakers in January, meanwhile, that altogether, taxes and fees from recreational cannabis had generated $58 million in state revenue. That top-level amount first pays for operational costs and court expungements of past marijuana offenses, with the remainder going to veterans, substance use treatment and public defenders.

An earlier $17 million transfer was released last November, with a large portion going to the Veterans Commission. At the time, Paul Kirchhoff, MVC’s executive director, said the funds “will help MVC continue to support the existing infrastructure of our seven Veterans Homes.”

Missouri launched its medical marijuana program in 2018. Dispensary sales began two years later, in 2020. Under the law, medical marijuana products sold at licensed dispensaries are taxed by the state at a rate of 4 percent, and a provision requires that any money collected that exceeds the cost of administering the program be disbursed to the Veterans Commission. Adult-use cannabis purchases, meanwhile, are subject to a 6 percent state tax.

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Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.