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Medical marijuana expected to hit MO shelves in September

However, the amount of product that will be available locally is unknown

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Even in the midst of a pandemic, medical marijuana is still on pace to reach consumers by late summer, according to officials with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

But it’s unclear how this will impact the budding industry in southwest Missouri.

Three cultivation facilities have passed the commencement inspections required to operate in the state, said Director of Medical Marijuana Lyndall Fraker, but none of those are in southwest Missouri. The facilities approved so far are in the St. Louis area and in Perryville, north of Cape Girardeau, according to DHSS data.

Fraker said some product should be available in the state in the coming month.

“Our goal is to still have some dispensaries open by late summer. We may not make August, but we expect to make September,” said Fraker. “Each facility will be making arrangements on their own. The first three cultivation facilities may have contracts with certain dispensaries, so it may not be available to everyone.”

Local entrepreneurs say the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a wrench into most buildout timelines, with construction delayed and state processes moving slower than anticipated.

By press time, 369 dispensary, testing, cultivation and infused-product manufacturing facilities were still required to undergo a commencement inspection, according to DHSS documents. Over two dozen had filed a request for the inspection and 11 were in progress.

Five cultivation facilities were awarded licenses in southwest Missouri – Holistic Missouri LLC, Harvest of Missouri LLC and three entities owned by Flora Farms. Officials did not return requests for comment by press time.

But at least one Springfield area business owner had secured a deal with one of the three operating cultivators by press time. John Lopez, owner of Old Route 66 Wellness LLC, said he was negotiating the price of about 100 pounds of marijuana with cultivator Archimedes Medical Holding LLC out of Perryville.

“We know we’ve secured that deal, and now we’re working out the details,” he said. “With 100 pounds, if we limited the amount we could sell to each patient to one ounce, we would be open for five days and we’d have to close down again.

“Our hope is to not have to close down at all and get 100 pounds every 10 days or so, but it depends on the supply.”

Lopez, who is also the founder of K9s for Camo Inc., owns two dispensaries: one at the former Little Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse at 2823 N. Glenstone Ave. and the other at 1421 W. Highway J in Ozark. He declined to comment on his startup investments.

Lopez said if a testing facility passes its commencement inspection within the next few weeks, he will be able to open his stores with product in late August or early September. He said Old Route 66 Wellness was in the final stages of its inspection at press time.

If a facility does not pass, it cannot operate in the state, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

“It’s all about the supply and demand right now,” he said. “And the cultivators can pretty much name their price.”

Lopez declined to disclose price negotiation details with Archimedes Medical Holding.

Fraker said the state is planning to finish inspections of additional cultivation facilities in the coming weeks, followed by testing facilities and dispensaries. He said the staggered approach is designed to ensure product can flow seamlessly through the state in September.

Marijuana cannot be sold in a dispensary until the product is verified by a testing facility, according to past SBJ reporting.

Waiting game
Springfield’s only testing facility, Botannis Labs Mo. Corp., is waiting for the state to approve additional cultivators before it finishes infill work at 215 N. Grant Ave., officials said.

“It’s incredibly expensive to have a lot of equipment just sitting around and to get the highly trained people we’re in talks with hiring on payroll if we can’t test anything,” said spokesperson Jeff Altmann. “Timing is everything. We don’t want to be in a situation where we’re ready to test and there’s no product availability.”

Altmann declined to disclose the cost of infill work or the potential money lost from opening before product is available to test.

Another local dispensary owner, Kim Andrews, expects it’ll be November before she, and most Springfield dispensaries, have product at their stores. Fourteen dispensary licenses were awarded last December in Springfield, according to past SBJ reporting.

Andrews of Ozarx Botanicals I LLC said she’s recently started infill work at her 3800 W. Sunshine St. store because of the few cultivators approved to operate. She expects the store to be ready within a few months, though infill work will still likely finish before product is available to sell.

“It’s frustrating because we’d prefer to be up and going. We held off on doing the infill work because there’s no point in getting a building done and waiting months for product,” she said. “We’re at the mercy of the cultivators.”

Declining to comment on arranged partnerships, Andrews said she is not working with the three approved cultivators because of the cost to obtain product.

“Those three cultivators have all the control,” she said. “Everyone’s clamoring for the same product at the same time, and that makes prices surge. There will eventually be plenty of product – just not at the beginning.”

Andrews was recently appointed to the dispensary committee for the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association. She says most dispensary owners across the state agree product will be widely available by November.

“I never dreamed we would be at the first of August and still be this far out from having product,” said Andrews. “I don’t think there’s anyone you can point fingers at or blame, it’s just how things are.”

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