‘A long time coming.’ First medical marijuana sale made in KC area as dozens line up
Dozens of people lined up hours before Kansas City’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened Monday in Lee’s Summit.
Fresh Green LLC, owned by Rob and Bianca Sullivan, received its first shipment early Monday and made its first sale soon after it opened at noon.
“I feel great to be able to provide people with what they should have been able to have forever,” Rob Sullivan said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Two dispensaries opened Saturday in the the St. Louis area, marking the state’s first legal sales of marijuana since voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2018.
B.J. Works, who was the first in line Monday, said he arrived at the dispensary about four hours before its noon opening. The 60-year-old from Grain Valley said he grew his own marijuana at home but needed to find a provider in between grows.
The disabled veteran said marijuana helps alleviate chronic pain from cancer and control anxiety better than opioid prescriptions.
“With opioids, I was on the couch all the time,” he said. “I can get up and function like a normal person.”
Fresh Green, which plans to open a second location in Waldo, was the first to open in the western part of the state. The store is selling four strains of whole and ground marijuana flower. The price, $60 for 1/8 of an ounce, is about the same price as in St. Louis.
Industry insiders expect Missouri’s prices to start out high as supplies are limited but like other states with marijuana programs, the cost should fall over time.
Dispensaries are the last line in the supply chain, and only a few cultivators across Missouri have plants mature enough for harvesting. The first harvests are just making their way to a handful of sellers.
Missouri regulators licensed about 40 dispensaries to open in the Kansas City area.
Missouri’s program allows patients to buy up to 4 ounces of dried, unprocessed marijuana per month.
To purchase, patients must have their state medical marijuana card and photo identification.
The Missouri Department of Health and Human Services on Saturday said it expects most of the state’s 192 approved dispensaries to be open by the end of the year.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 12:32 PM.
