MoCannTrade And The Missouri Cannabis Industry Celebrate Another Historic Year

MoCannTrade Board of Directors, Advisory Board and Staff June 2023

Its early 2018, MoCannTrade was just forming, the passage of medical legalization was still months away and this Director could not have imagined how much Missouri would be changing for the better and how far OUR great state would come in just five short years.

Over that time, we’ve certainly had OUR  fair share of challenges, but we are so proud of OUR  ability to work together as an industry to improvise, adapt and overcome.  We all know this is one of the hardest industries to work in bar none but OUR love for this business, OUR passion for the plant, the products we produce and the people who benefit from it keeps us all pushing forward together.     

For Melissa, myself and MoCann leadership, its so gratifying to talk with peers from other states as they compliment us on OUR success in Missouri, the closeness of OUR industry, OUR willingness to collaborate and help each other even if at times we are competing against each other.  For many other state based medical or adult use programs, this is just unheard of. 

On behalf of OUR esteemed board of directors, OUR advisory board, lobbyists, PR team and staff: thank you so much and congratulations on making 2023 another historic year of achievement for OUR Missouri cannabis industry. 

As we close out OUR fifth year as Missouri cannabis’ voice of trade, we thought we’d take a moment to highlight some of OUR historic successes, achievements and accolades the Missouri cannabis industry experienced this past year with an eye for what’s to come in 2024.   

— Andrew Mullins – Executive Director 

— Melissa Khan – Associate Director

— Dena Ladd – Board Chair

10.) Local Communities Embrace Having Marijuana Facilities, Very Few Attempted Adult Use Opt-Out

In April and then again in August, voters in every corner of the state went to the polls and supported local adult use sales taxes allowed under Amendment 3 and embraced having marijuana facilities and cannabis jobs in their community.

Unlike in other states like Michigan, where the vast majority of the more than 1,500 municipalities have opted not to allow adult use sales, very few Missouri communities are attempting to opt-out of adult use sales. Consequently, customers in Missouri have much better access to dispensaries than most states, where dispensaries are often clustered in a few communities, leaving large swaths of the state without access.

9.) Cannabis Possession Arrests Hit 28-Year Low in Missouri 

It was announced in October that in 2022, despite only being legalized for the last month of the year, Missouri set a 28-year low in marijuana arrests.

In 2016, more than 21,000 Missourians were arrested for cannabis possession according to FBI data. The number dropped to less than 9,000 arrests in 2022 and the 2023 arrest figures should drop even more dramatically, thanks to a full year of cannabis legalization.

8.) Missouri Cannabis Employment Nearly Doubles in Year Following Legalization

Today nearly 19,000 Missourians are directly employed in the cannabis industry, nearly doubling the 9,838 cannabis jobs that existed in October 2022, just prior to the marijuana legalization vote. Over the past two years, the cannabis industry has been one of Missouri’s biggest job creators.

7.) Marijuana Program Generates More Than $100 million in Taxes and Fees; Missouri Veterans Alone Have Received $40 Million+ 

The marijuana program in Missouri has now generated more than $100 million in taxes and fees. In October, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced they were transferring an additional $13 million for the care and treatment of Missouri veterans, bringing the total amount of marijuana revenues that have gone to vets at $40 million and counting.

6.) Industry Enjoys 280E Tax Break At The State Level for the First Time 

2023 was the first year that Missouri cannabis businesses could deduct businesses expenses on their state taxes. The passage of Amendment 3 allowed Missouri to decouple from federal regulations regarding Federal Statute 280E.

This significant tax break will also hopefully happen at the federal level in the coming years if Congress can act or we see a rescheduling change.

5.) MoCann Works with Finance Industry to Pass Important Bank Information Sharing Legislation

With fewer pieces of legislation passed than in any legislative session over the last two decades, MoCannTrade was still able to get our #1 legislative priority over the finish line in 2023. The legislation, HB 63 and SB 186, allows marijuana businesses to request in writing permission for state agencies to share the entity’s application, license or other regulator or financial information with a banking institution.

This bank information sharing arrangement will allow more banks to have marijuana businesses as clients because the legislation enables the banks to follow the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) guidelines more easily. MoCann will keep the industry abreast as DCR, Missouri Division of Finance and other state agencies work together to implement this important legislation.

4.) Joint Committee on Administrative Rules Meets For the First Time in Years to Provide Legislative Oversight of DCR’s Rulemaking 

In May and again in October, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules held hearings to analyze and question DCR about their rulemaking for Missouri’s new adult use program. The committee, which hadn’t held these types of hearings on any issue over the past couple years, specifically examined whether DCR was using guidance letters to circumvent the traditional rulemaking process.

Members from both parties were critical of some of DCR’s rules, which they felt may be too onerous and were attempting to solve for problems that didn’t yet exist. Lawmakers also expressed frustration with DCR officials on the backlog of administrative approvals including variances, change requests, etc.

3.) 100,000+ Cannabis Offenses Have Been Automatically Expunged In 2023

In one of the largest criminal justice reform measures in Missouri history, more than 100,000 past, nonviolent cannabis offenses were automatically expunged in 2023.

As part of marijuana legalization, Missouri became the first state in the country to automatically expunge most, past nonviolent cannabis convictions by a vote of the people. Taxes paid by cannabis customers on adult use sales fund the expungement program.

2.) Cannabis Industry Sues Missouri Counties Over Unconstitutionally Stacked Local Cannabis Taxes 

On Oct. 10, the cannabis industry filed a lawsuit against both St. Louis County and the Missouri Department of Revenue to prevent them from collecting unconstitutionally stacked local cannabis taxes.

Since Oct. 1, dozens of Missouri counties, including St. Louis County, have been stacking a local 3% adult use marijuana tax on top of a municipal 3% tax in violation of Article 14 of the Missouri Constitution. The constitution allows adult use sales that take place within the city limits to be taxed by a municipality up to 3% with a vote of the people. It also allows adult use marijuana sales that take place in unincorporated areas to be taxed by a county.

St. Louis County and others are violating this by placing a second 3% tax on marijuana sales occurring within incorporated areas that also happen to be within the county’s boundaries. The lawsuit seeks to overturn this unconstitutional stacking of local adult use marijuana taxes. If successful, the lawsuit would save Missouri cannabis customers approximately $3 million per month and uphold the will of the voters.

#1 Missouri Selling Nearly $4 Million of Legal Cannabis Daily 

Missouri is poised to sell more than $1.3 billion worth of cannabis in 2023. Since Feb. 3, Missouri dispensaries have sold nearly $4 million each and every day.

As Missouri’s latest billion-dollar industry and now a top 10 US cannabis market, the economic benefits our industry produces are being felt across Missouri and recognized across the country!