Missouri's medical-marijuana program has long road ahead

Amendment 2, the voter initiative that legalized medical marijuana in Missouri, was passed and became law in November of 2018. The law's implementation timeline gives the state about 1 year to license, regulate, grow and prepare the cannabis that patients will be purchasing, but will that be enough time? As of now the timeline seems plausible as long as the state doesn't run into any setbacks that have plagued some other states. But if all goes according to plan, Missouri could have an in-depth and well rounded medical marijuana program that caters to many types of patients before the end of 2019. Marijuana growers were allowed to send in early application fees beginning this week. Official applications will be available June 4th, with patients being able to apply for state ID cards on July 4th. It will take a few months from then to have products prepared but so far the timeline looks promising.

On Jan. 5, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services will begin accepting early application fees for those seeking to grow marijuana, produce the various cannabis products or sell them to certified patients.

The application forms won’t be available until June 4, at the latest. A month later, July 4, patients and caregivers can apply for identification cards that will allow them to purchase marijuana products.