New Approach Missouri

Want to become a legal medical marijuana patient in Missouri? Want to cultivate (grow) medical cannabis for yourself or as a caregiver? Learn more at the helpful links below. If you have questions please message us and we will help. How to Apply as a Medical Marijuana Patient: https://health.mo.gov//medical-marijua/how-to-apply-pi.php... Frequently Asked Questions about the patient and caregiver program: https://health.mo.gov//medical-marijua/how-to-apply-pi.php How to contact DHSS Medical Marijuana Program: Email - [email protected] Call - 866-219-0165

Over $2 million from state’s medical marijuana program being transferred to veterans fund JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is pleased to announce it has begun the process of making the first transfer of funds from Missouri’s medical marijuana program to the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC). The total amount transferred will be $2,135,510. Missourians voted in November 2018 to adopt Constitutional Amendment 2, now known as Artic...le XIV, which includes a provision requiring that fees and taxes collected by DHSS for the medical marijuana program, less operational expenses, should be transferred to the MVC for health and care services for military veterans. Thus far, DHSS has collected fees related to facility and patient licensing. Article XIV states that medical marijuana sold in licensed dispensaries will be taxed at a rate of 4%. Facilities are getting up and running now, and the first testing laboratory is on track to be operational very soon, said Lyndall Fraker, director of the Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation. We are confident that medical marijuana will become available for patients this month, and I am grateful for all of the hard work by so many that got us to this point. Director of DHSS, Dr. Randall Williams, is glad to see the program reach another milestone in its development. Missourians voted on this amendment because it allowed for a safe and well-regulated medical marijuana program for patients, but it also was written to simultaneously benefit our very deserving veterans through services MVC will now be able to provide, he said. A formal presentation of this significant transfer of funds is being planned in the near future with representatives from DHSS and the MVC.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has uploaded a new Patient Cultivation Shared Space infographic. Check it out. https://health.mo.gov//med/pdf/cultivation-infographic.pdf

Missouri’s medical marijuana program publishes first annual report JEFFERSON CITY, MO The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is pleased to announce the release of its Missouri Medical Marijuana Regulatory Program’s annual report to the Governor. DHSS is required to annually submit a report to the Governor regarding the efficient discharge of its responsibilities under Article XIV Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution. Reported activities are based on the progr...am year of December 6, 2018, through December 5, 2019. Article XIV contained several deadlines for this first program year including: begin accepting pre-file facility license applications by January 5, 2019, make all application forms and instructions publicly available by June 4, 2019, begin accepting patient, caregiver, and patient cultivation applications by July 4, 2019, and begin accepting facility applications by August 3, 2019. DHSS successfully met each of these deadlines. I am extremely proud of our team and the program that we have developed. It has been an honor to lead this hardworking group of dedicated team members as we bring this new industry to Missouri in a well-regulated, safe, and patient-focused program, stated Lyndall Fraker, Director of the Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation. DHSS is charged with providing safe and secure access to medical marijuana for qualifying Missouri patients. During the first program year, DHSS approved 23,269 patient and caregiver applications and began the process of licensing the constitutional minimum number of regulated medical marijuana facilities. As we have worked to implement this program, Missouri patients have always been our north star through every step of the way, said Dr. Randall Williams, Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. We want to ensure that we build a program that is safe, accessible and in line with our mission of protecting the health of Missourians. An electronic copy of the annual report to the Governor can be viewed at https://health.mo.gov//medical-marijuana/pdf/annual-mmrp-r

Check out this helpful patient and caregiver cultivation compliance graphic from Greenway Magazine.

Thank you Greenway Magazine! Patient Stats as of the Morning of 3/23/2020. Processed Applications... Patient approved 39,975 Caregiver approved 1,132 Approved Patient/Caregiver Cultivators 12,171 Patient/Caregiver rejected* 108 Patient/Caregiver denied 1,211 Total approved 41,107 - - - Applications Received Patient applications 43,086 Caregiver applications 1,388 Total applications received 44,474 *Reject Status are not denials, just an opportunity for the applicant to provide additional needed information

We have received a lot of questions and interest about the new adult use marijuana petition sponsored by Missourians For A New Approach. Although we have endorsed the initiative, the adult use legalization campaign is a separate organization. Their language would legalize marijuana for anyone over the age of 21, establish common sense regulations, and create a 15% retail tax that would split the funds between veterans’ services, Missouri’s roads and bridges, and drug addictio...n treatment programs. This tax would NOT apply to medical patients. You can learn more about the adult use campaign on their website www.mofornewapproach.org and by following them on Facebook and Twitter. They are actively gathering petition signatures now for the November 2020 ballot. The adult use language would make the following improvements on the current medical language: - increasing the renewal period for MMJ patient certifications from yearly to every three years - allowing for reciprocity for out of state medical marijuana patients to purchase cannabis medicine in Missouri dispensaries Medical patient and caregiver cultivation plant counts would NOT be impacted by this language. We hope this post helps clear up any confusion.