Missouri Rolls Out Recreational Marijuana Sales Friday: First Week Expected To Be A 'Little Chaotic'

Recreational marijuana sales in Missouri started Friday, several days earlier than expected.

Until Thursday, the industry was expecting the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to start issuing adult-use sales licenses on Monday, but the department announced it will start Friday, writes StlToday.

“There was an inkling from the state that it could have the potential to go early on Friday,” said Laurie Gregory, chief marketing officer of Good Day Farm, Missouri's medical cannabis brand, which recently announced plans to celebrate recreational sales launch. The company expanded its retail footprint in the state, with 19 Good Day Farm-branded dispensaries prepared to serve Missouri's recreational consumers and medical patients. 

“It’s been day by day and moment by moment,” Gregory said. “We’re waiting, we’re prepping, we’re ready.

Missouri legalized recreational cannabis in the recent midterms, becoming the first state in the nation where voters approved the automatic expungement of prior marijuana convictions. With the legalization bill, which won by a comfortable margin, the state expanded its current medical marijuana program by allowing existing licensees to serve both medical and non-medical consumers.

According to state health department spokeswoman, Lisa Cox, a minimum 170 of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state are eligible for licenses Friday, and they will be given to any store in good standing with the department.

“Good standing means the license is not suspended, revoked, or otherwise inactive at the time the request is made,” Cox said.

From An $800 Million To $1 Billion Marketplace 

John Mueller, CEO of multi-state operator Greenlight, which has around 15 locations in Missouri commented on this unexpected early start. “It’s, like, all of a sudden,” Muller said as reported by KCTV. “This is like a 420 event for us, which is like our Super Bowl of the cannabis industry,” Mueller said. “And so, all of a sudden, it’s kind of sprung on you two days earlier. So, if we’re like the Chiefs going to the Super Bowl, we’re trying to scramble and play the game a few days early.”

“I think the first week will be a little chaotic,” Mueller said. “I think you’ll see lines just to be among the first consumers. A lot of people in Missouri, a heavily conservative state, have been waiting a long time for this.”

In November, Mueller, a Missouri native and CEO of one of the largest operators in the state told Benzinga that he believes Missouri will become an $800 million to $1 billion marketplace. “Greenlight plans to double its staff, add 50% more employees, and anticipate 2.5X their current medical revenue,” he said in days following the measure’s passage. “Due to current medical regulations publicly traded companies are not allowed to operate in the state. With the passage of Amendment 3, it opens the doors for publicly traded multi-state operators to attack the likely billion dollar market.”

Photo: Benzinga Edit with image by Alexander Lukatskiy and Adam Melnyk on Shutterstock