Nearly two years later, why are Missouri patients still waiting for medical marijuana?
Suffering patients in Missouri who qualify for medical marijuana still can’t buy it at a store.
Why has it taken nearly two years for voter-approved medical marijuana to become commercially available in Missouri? That question should be the focus of an important debate between gubernatorial candidates Mike Parson and Nicole Galloway in the coming weeks.
Voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing medical marijuana in 2018. Some supporters of the industry insist a two-year time frame was always part of the plan. But it’s clear many patients expected the drug to be on sale by now.
In January, industry representative Jack Cardetti told The Star’s Editorial Board that licensed dispensaries would be open “this summer.” Others suggested June 2020 as the target start-up date for over-the-counter cannabis.
In April, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said “July or August” was the likely start for retail medical cannabis sales.
Yet at the end of July, 33% of required marijuana facility inspections had yet to be performed. That includes 60 pot dispensaries that must be inspected before their doors can open.
The department now says mid-September is the likely date for open sale of medical marijuana. At least one licensed grower recently said marijuana probably won’t be available until October, 23 months after the statewide vote.
It’s fair to say that COVID-19 has played a role in the stretched-out implementation of medical marijuana. The pandemic understandably diverted the state’s attention away from marijuana for a time.
But COVID-19 isn’t an excuse for the controversy surrounding the questionable way licenses for growers, testers, and sellers were awarded. The coronavirus can’t be blamed for appeals, lawsuits and complaints about the inexperience of state regulators.
Federal investigators are believed to be questioning officials involved in the marijuana industry in Missouri. The virus played no role in that.
The state’s voters must ask the governor and his allies if the slow rollout of medical marijuana is the result of ineptitude, or — more ominously — a deliberate attempt to delay the use of a substance overwhelmingly approved by the public.
Missouri and Parson have some experience with thwarting the voters’ will. The governor, as a lawmaker, led the charge to overturn the voter-approved ban on puppy mills in the state. Republicans are behind a November vote aimed at overturning Clean Missouri’s ethics and redistricting reforms, also approved by voters.
On Tuesday, Missouri voters approved expanding Medicaid. Will it take two years for legislators and bureaucrats to fully enact that mandate? We hope the answer is no.
That’s why finding out what has happened with medical marijuana is so important. Missourians must be assured that their views, expressed at the polls, are acted on quickly and with as much energy as possible.
Almost 55,000 Missourians have obtained a required card certifying the need for the pain relief they think cannabis will provide. They suffer from one of 10 qualifying medical conditions, including cancer and epilepsy, that are detailed in the law.
Those patients can now grow small amounts of their own marijuana for personal use (marijuana possession remains illegal under federal law.) But they should be able to purchase the product in a store that’s safe and convenient, which is what voters approved in November 2018.
They should not have to wait until October 2020 to get it.