Greene County Cannabis – Is It Legal & Where To Buy 2024

Is Cannabis Cultivation Legal in Greene County?

Yes, it is legal to cultivate marijuana in Greene County. Missouri approved medical marijuana use in 2018, and Amendment 3's approval in the November 2022 ballot made recreational marijuana legal on December 8 of the same year. However, the department must approve any new application within 60 days of receipt. As a result, on February 6, 2023, the department will commence accepting applications for consumer personal cultivation.

Once approved, people who are at least 21 are allowed to cultivate plants at home in a safe, contained facility for their own personal, non-commercial use. Unless the government announces changes in the requirements, the criteria for applying for a recreational marijuana growing facility are the same as those for medical marijuana cultivation facilities.

Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution specifies that a medical marijuana cultivation facility may apply to the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHHS) for one or more licenses (greenhouse, indoor, or outdoor) to operate. Multiple licenses may be used at a single facility:

1. Cultivation in a greenhouse: For any greenhouse facility that uses both natural and artificial lighting, the department may, at the licensee's discretion, set a restriction of 30,000 square feet of flowering plant canopy or 2,800 blooming plants

2. Indoor cultivation: The department may limit the area of blooming plant canopy space for any indoor facility utilizing artificial lighting to no more than 30,000 square feet

3. Outdoor cultivation: For each outdoor facility that employs natural lighting, the department may impose a limit of 2,800 flowering plants

The license is valid for three years from the issuance date and is renewed unless there is a compelling reason not to renew. Within three years of December 6, 2018, the agency shall impose a non-refundable fee of $10,000 per license application or renewal on all applicants. The non-refundable price per license application or renewal will be $5,000 for any applicants who submit a form after that date. Following issuance, the department will impose a $25,000 yearly fee per facility license on each licensee. Any organization with roughly the same level of control, ownership, or management cannot get more than three licenses for medical marijuana cultivation facilities.

Additionally, patients may also cultivate marijuana at home after getting a patient cultivation card. Cultivation authorizations linked to a qualifying patient's or primary caregiver's medicinal cannabis ID card are only valid for the duration of validity of their medical marijuana ID card. The fee for the cultivation application is the same regardless of how much time is left on the patient's or primary caregiver's medical marijuana ID card's validity. Licensed patients or their caregivers may grow up to six flowering marijuana plants, six clones (plants under fourteen inches tall), and six nonflowering marijuana plants (plants above fourteen inches tall) at any given time.

According to Article XIV, all cultivation of a qualified patient must occur in a space that is enclosed, locked, and protected by security measures that only the patient or the patient's primary caregiver can access.

Shared cultivation is also permitted. A single, enclosed, lockable facility may be shared by two qualified patients who are each in possession of a valid qualifying patient cultivation identification card. No more than twelve flowering marijuana plants may be grown by a qualifying patient or primary caregiver in a single, secured location unless the primary caregiver also possesses a qualifying patient cultivation identification card. In that circumstance, a single, secured facility may not have more than eighteen flowering marijuana plants.

Is Cannabis Manufacturing Legal in Greene County?

Yes, Greene County permits the manufacture of cannabis. An organization may apply to the department and obtain one or more licenses to operate a manufacturing facility for medical marijuana-infused products in accordance with Article XIV. For each operational facility, a separate license is needed. A license is renewed unless there is good cause and is only valid for three years from the date of issuance. For any license applications or renewals submitted within three years of December 6, 2018, the department must charge a non-refundable fee of $6,000 to each applicant. For applications or renewals received after that date, the non-refundable price is $3,000 for each applicant. Once approved, the government will charge each facility license an annual fee of $10,000.

The department may limit the total number of licenses granted to manufacturing facilities. However, according to the most current US census, the restriction cannot be any lower than one license for every 70,000 residents of Missouri or any portion thereof. If Missouri's population drops, there will be no effect.

Every medical marijuana-infused item sold in Missouri needs to have been manufactured in a licensed medical marijuana-infused product manufacturing facility. No new medical manufacturing facility shall be built within 1,000 feet of any then-existing child daycare facility, church, or elementary or secondary school unless the local government authorizes it.

According to Section 195.805 of the Narcotic Drug Act, no edible marijuana-infused product, packaging, or logo promoted in Missouri may incorporate an animal, human, or fruit-shaped design, including realistic, caricature-like, or cartoonish depictions. Geometric shapes that are permissible include circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles.

On December 8, 2022, the department started accepting requests from current medical facility license holders to switch to or convert to a comprehensive facility with regard to recreational marijuana. Except for current medical license holders, the department is prohibited from issuing new comprehensive facility licenses for at least 548 days under the new law (Amendment 3). This does not apply to microbusiness applications. On September 4, 2023, applications for microbusinesses will be accepted.

Is Cannabis Retail Legal in Greene County?

Yes. Edible items, teas, tinctures, capsules, oil, ointments, balms, suppositories, concentrates, seeds, and transdermal patches are among the marijuana products that can be purchased in Greene County. An entity may apply to the department and be given one or more licenses to operate a medical marijuana dispensary facility. For each operational facility, a separate license is needed. A license is renewable every three years unless there is good cause. For any license applications or renewals submitted within three years of December 6, 2018, the department must charge a non-refundable fee of $6,000 to each applicant. For applications or renewals received after that date, the non-refundable price is $3,000 for each applicant. Once approved, the government will charge each licensee an annual fee of $10,000 for each facility license. This is in accordance with Article XIV.

No new medical dispensary facility shall be built within 1,000 feet of any then-existing child daycare facility, church, or elementary or secondary school unless the local government authorizes it.

Dispensary facilities are required under Code of State Regulations 30-95.080 to complete each transaction only after receiving the transaction order directly from the qualifying patient or their caregiver at the dispensary, whether in person, over the phone, or online. Dispensary facilities shall guarantee that the eligible patient or primary caregiver is permitted to purchase the desired quantity of medical marijuana at the time of sale. If seeds are purchased, the patient or primary caregiver must already have a license to cultivate medical marijuana under the State's track and trace system.

Only the qualifying patient's legal guardian or parent (in place of a non-emancipated qualified patient below 18) who has a primary caregiver identification card may acquire or possess medical marijuana, according to the Code of State Regulations 30-95.030.

According to the Code of State Regulations 30-95.010, dispensaries may also sell medical marijuana to other dispensaries within the State.

Regarding marijuana used recreationally, the government will start considering requests from current medical facility license holders to switch to or convert to a comprehensive facility on December 8, 2022. Because the government has 60 days from the date of receipt to process those requests, adult-use items should be available as early as February 2023.

The new law also prohibits the government from issuing new comprehensive facility licenses for at least 548 days (with the exception of existing medical license holders). Applications for micro business are an exception to this. On September 4, 2023, applications for microbusinesses will be accepted.

Is Cannabis Delivery Legal in Greene County?

Yes. Patients with active medical marijuana cards are allowed to request home delivery from dispensaries. According to the Code of State Regulations 30-95.100, the facility from where the marijuana was produced must print an inventory manifest for the trip before transporting medical marijuana. The manifest, which must be generated using the State's track and trace system, must contain the following information:

• The names of the individuals who are delivering the medical marijuana

• When and on what day the transit will start

• The anticipated delivery date

• The planned route for transportation

Dispensaries must first acquire payment for the products before delivering them to a qualified patient or caregiver, as per Code of State Regulations 30-95.100.

Delivery services between marijuana businesses are also permitted. Medical marijuana dispensaries may deliver medical marijuana to testing facilities, other medical marijuana dispensaries, or manufacturing facilities.

How to Get Medical Marijuana Card in Greene County

To complete an Electronic Physician Certification Form, applicants must be evaluated by a Missouri-licensed physician who is active and in good condition to practice medicine (MD) or osteopathy (DO). Nurse practitioners are now allowed to see patients and submit electronic forms under the new law (Amendment 3). To submit an electronic form, doctors and nurse practitioners must first register with the department. After the doctor has submitted a completed Electronic Physician Certification Form, patients must fill out the online application via the registration site within 30 days after the physician's signature date.

Online applications from eligible patients must contain the following:

• Proof of Missouri residency is needed (either a copy of a Missouri ID card, a recent Missouri utility bill, a valid Missouri driver's license, or a valid Missouri motor vehicle registration). On December 8, 2022, the new law will no longer require this.

• Certification from a doctor

• Additional documents, including a recent three-month-old, clear, color photo of the qualified patient's face as well as a parental or legal guardian consent form for minor patients, a copy of the qualifying patient's government-issued photo ID, either from the federal or State government

The following is a list of qualifying conditions that meet the requirements of Article XIV:

• HIV or AIDS

• Cancer

• Glaucoma

• Any terminal illness

• Epilepsy

• Persistent migraines that won't go away despite therapeutic efforts

• A chronic medical ailment that causes intense, continual pain or persistent muscle spasms, such as seizures, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or Tourette's syndrome

• Debilitating psychiatric conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, if determined by a state-licensed psychiatrist

• When a doctor decides that medicinal marijuana could be helpful in treating a chronic medical condition and would be a safer option than the prescription medication that is typically used to treat the illness that can cause physical or psychological dependence

• Other chronic, debilitating, or other medical conditions, in the expert opinion of a physician, including but not limited to neuropathies, Alzheimer's disease agitation, autism, hepatitis C, Huntington's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, wasting syndrome, cachexia, and sickle cell anemia.

For more details about Missouri's medical marijuana program, you may contact:

Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation

Jefferson City, MO 65102-0570

Phone: 866-219-0165

Email: medicalmarijuanainfo@health.mo.gov

How Has Cannabis Legalization Impacted the Economy of Greene County?

On October 16, 2020, medical marijuana retail dispensary sales began, while recreational marijuana sales were legalized on December 8, 2022. The monthly sales in October 2020 were $350,000, according to Missouri DHHS Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation, and two years later, in October 2022, they soared to $529.5 million.

Additionally, the following accomplishments were listed in the same agency's 2021 annual report:

• $190,674,516 in retail sales in 2021

• The Missouri Veterans' Health and Care Fund received taxes totaling $6,058,915

• The Missouri Veterans Commission received transfers of $6,843,310

Article XIV mandates that in addition to the licensing fees that DHSS collects, a 4% tax on retail medical marijuana sales must be paid to the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR). In accordance with Article XIV, DOR is permitted to retain up to 5% of tax proceeds for administrative use. The DOR is required to deposit the remaining taxes into the Fund.

Given the available information, it is believed that the state economy will benefit more from recreational marijuana sales in December 2022.

The Effects of Cannabis Legalization on Crime Rates in Greene County

In 2019, 2020, and 2021, DUI cases in Greene County, per FBI crime report, varied from 217 to 63 and 264 arrests, respectively. The number of marijuana-related offenses also varied from 2019 to 2020 and 2021— from 44 cases to 9 and 27, respectively. This data was made available by the Greene County Sheriff's Office.

Keep in mind that Missouri authorized medical marijuana in October 2020.