Patients can’t ‘really put it into words’ as medical marijuana sales begin in KC area
It was fairly quiet as B.J. Works perused the available strains of medical marijuana inside Fresh Green on Monday.
He smelled some tabletop samples and learned how they varied: Purple Punch is said to help with stress, nausea and minor body aches. Drago, on the other hand, is supposed to help stimulate the appetite and improve concentration.
Works, a 60-year-old from Grain Valley, broke the silence as reporters watched an employee ring up his purchase, making him the first patient in the Kansas City area to legally purchase marijuana.
“Woo hoo!” he hollered, holding his arms up in the air.
Fresh Green, owned by lawyers Rob and Bianca Sullivan, opened its Lee’s Summit dispensary Monday afternoon. It was the third in the state and first in the metro area to sell marijuana since voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2018. On Saturday, N’Bliss began sales at two St. Louis-area dispensaries.
Works, a disabled veteran, said he grows his own marijuana at home as allowed under the state’s medical marijuana program. But he said he needed to find a retail provider to supply him in between his own grow cycles.
While industry insiders say limited supplies have pushed prices up for now, Works didn’t seem put out by his $67.14 bill, which got him one-eighth of an ounce.
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.”
By the time the dispensary opened shortly after noon, more than 100 customers waited outside in the cold, wrapping around the parking lot off of Missouri 291. The crowd was so large that it attracted an inspector from the Jackson County Health Department, who told the store’s owners to ensure all those waiting were spaced apart and wearing masks.
Fresh Green, which plans to soon open a second location in Waldo, had four strains of whole and ground marijuana flower on sale Monday, though in very limited supply. The price, $60 for one-eighth of an ounce, was comparable to the asking price in St. Louis.
Bianca Sullivan said the store bought as much marijuana as it could for its first delivery, which arrived just before midnight Monday.
“We have no choice in what we get, no choice of how much, no choice on the price,” she said. “So I am very sorry for the low supply, but I am also limiting the amount patients can get so we can get to as many patients as possible. I would hate to sell out in a few hours.”
While items like pot-infused gummies, chocolates and sodas were not yet available, the patients waiting outdoors didn’t seem to mind.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for almost two years now,” said Pam McCowin, a retired administrative specialist in the U.S. Air Force who lives in Kansas City.
She said she’s struggled with addiction to narcotics and was happy to have another legal option to help treat her PTSD, depression and rheumatoid arthritis. The arrival of the dispensary will also improve the lives of many people in the area who have driven to other states such as Illinois or Colorado that have legalized recreational use of marijuana, she said.
“I can’t even begin to really put it into words,” she said. “I’m just excited we have this opportunity here.”
Fresh Green is a family operation. The Sullivans said they’ve spent endless hours preparing the store for its opening day. And on Monday, their 21-year-old son Robert made the first sale at the counter.
“I feel great to be able to provide people with what they should have been able to have forever,” his father, Rob Sullivan, said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Brenda Dougherty, who dropped into the store last week to check on its progress, knew marijuana would help with her chronic pain. And she was excited to be able to use her medical marijuana card for the first time Monday afternoon.
“I’m legal,” she said. “If someone comes up to me and says you shouldn’t be smoking that, hey I’m legal now, back off.”
Missouri regulators licensed about 40 dispensaries to open in the Kansas City area
The state program allows patients to buy up to 4 ounces of dried, unprocessed marijuana, or its equivalent, per month.
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.
Fresh Green plans to open from noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Patients must have their state medical marijuana card and photo identification to purchase. In addition to regular sales tax, patients pay an additional 4% tax on medical marijuana purchases.
As more dispensaries continue to open and more cultivators harvest marijuana, prices should decrease for patients, said Jack Cardetti, spokesman for the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association.
Dispensaries are the last line in the supply chain, and only a few cultivators across Missouri currently have plants mature enough for harvesting.
“The more cultivation you see online, obviously that’s going to drive more products and options for patients,” he said. “But it’ll obviously drive down price as well.”
The Lee’s Summit store sits in a small strip mall next to a GameStop and Sport Clips. Cardetti noted the building previously housed a Blockbuster video rental store.
“If that doesn’t tell you the changing of the times, I’m not sure what does,” he said. “I think that is a metaphor for what we’re seeing, the economic potential of this industry.”
The Star’s Tammy Ljungblad contributed to this story.
