Kansas City dispensaries finally got marijuana gummies. But they’re already all gone
Kathy Romey thought the others might bristle as she was escorted to the front of the line this week outside of Third Street Dispensary near downtown Lee’s Summit.
But the dozens of patients waiting out in the cold seemed to understand.
The dispensary allowed her to skip the queue on Wednesday to make the inaugural purchase of gummies — the first medical marijuana edibles sold in the state. Her son, Zach, left Kansas City to work in Colorado’s marijuana industry and in 2014 started the Robhots brand of gummies.
His products are sold in hundreds of stores in Colorado and Oklahoma. And as of this week, Missouri.
“It was just such a proud mom moment. I almost cried,” Kathy Romey said. “This is historic. To buy the first edibles in Missouri and it’s our son who actually made the first product. It was quite an honor.”
Local dispensaries stocked their first edible products on Wednesday from Kansas City-based Clovr, the state’s first company approved to sell infused-marijuana gummies, chocolates and other manufactured products.
To Kathy Romey, 54, her purchase was about more than just her son’s success. When he first left home, she worried about him entering the marijuana business.
“God, 15 years ago we were all hiding from the police when when we would smoke,” she said. “The times have greatly changed.”
She described herself as an “avid marijuana smoker,” but said edibles have helped her with arthritis and lingering pain from shoulder surgeries. Her mother found relief from marijuana while suffering from late-stage lung cancer. And Romey said her husband is aided by small doses of gummies when beset by pain from a car crash a decade ago.
“It really does have true medicinal purposes,” she said. “And plus, they’re just fun to eat on a Friday night. Let’s just be real.”
While patients celebrated the arrival of edible products, supplies vanished quickly.
By Thursday, all three dispensaries had sold out of Robhots and Wana brand gummies along with the Keef brand of marijuana-infused beverages.
A Clovr spokeswoman said patients should expect shortages as the operation ramps up. The company plans to make weekly deliveries to Missouri dispensaries and expects to release cartridges and vape pens in late January, pending the availability of supplies and state testing.
While the area’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in October, the retail stores have so far only stocked marijuana flower or pre-rolled joints, not the edibles and oils that many patients desire.
“We could not keep up with the excitement of the edibles,” said Cheryl Annen, co-founder of Third Street Dispensary.
Clovr is poised to become a major player in Missouri’s marijuana market. It has inked exclusive license agreements with well-known brands like Robhots, Wana and Keef, meaning dispensaries across the state can only get those prdoucts from Clovr. It will also manufacture its own brands and create chocolates with the help of Kansas City’s renowned chocolatier Christopher Elbow.
Annen said the company had set prices for all dispensaries: 10 packs of gummies containing 100 milligrams of THC were selling for $36 or $40, depending on the brand. And bottles of Keef beverages, which contained 200 milligrams of THC, were being sold for $35 a piece.
Many patients with medical marijuana cards don’t want to smoke pot, either because of personal preference or because of underlying health conditions. And consuming marijuana is also considered to provide a different and longer-lasting high than with smoking.
“When you’re looking at helping the community deal with so many medical conditions, you realize we’re all different,” said Brittany Kling, director of marketing at ReLeaf Resources in Grandview. “While some people enjoy smoking, some people really don’t like it.”
ReLeaf has already reduced prices for flower by $5 per one-eighth ounce, Kling said, as the supply chain has improved. She expects to see similar movement on edibles, though it will likely take longer.
For now, patients should be prepared for limited stocks.
“I’m hoping Clovr can keep up with the demand,” she said.
ReLeaf, which sits just off U.S. 71, had a line out the door on Wednesday just an hour after it stocked its shelves with gummies and beverages.
“It’s going to be huge,” Kling said. “We get calls every day asking about edibles.”
On Thursday afternoon, all three dispensaries that have opened in the metro area had lines outside as patients gobbled up the last of the edible supplies. At Fresh Green in Lee’s Summit, patients passed around a pizza box as the line snaked around a portable toilet placed in the parking lot off of Missouri 291.
“We haven’t had a line out to the highway in a month. It was like opening day,” said Bianca Sullivan, who owns the store with her husband.
Dispensaries have been limiting quantities to provide product to as many patients as possible. Even so, Sullivan said Fresh Green’s supplies depleted quickly. The dispensary started selling edibles Wednesday evening. It reopened at noon on Thursday and was sold out within a couple of hours.
Sullivan said she expects to receive another delivery next Wednesday.
“We definitely could have sold 10 times the amount,” she said.
