This 4/20, MoCannTrade Urges Missourians to Know What’s in Your Cannabis by Visiting KnowYourCannabis.org  

Only By Shopping at Licensed Dispensaries this 4/20 Can Missourians Know their Products Are Lab Tested, 100% Missouri Grown Plant Medicine

With the annual 4/20 marijuana celebration only days away, the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association (MoCannTrade) is urging all Missourians to know what’s in their cannabis this year by shopping at licensed dispensaries and learning more at www.knowyourcannabis.org With so many unregulated, untested, unsafe cannabis products being sold at gas stations, convenience stores and head shops, the new website allows Missourians to find a licensed dispensary near them, while educating customers on the significant health and public safety benefits to ensure they are consuming 100% Missouri grown plant medicine.

All marijuana products sold in a licensed Missouri dispensary are 100% cultivated, manufactured, processed, tested and sold in Missouri by Missourians. These marijuana products are tracked and regulated from the time they are a seed all the way to the final sale in one of Missouri’s more than 215 licensed dispensaries, a map of which can be found on www.knowyourcannabis.org Also, only cannabis sold from a licensed dispensary generates cannabis taxes for local communities as well as veterans, substance abuse, and automatic expungement programs. In 2024 alone, marijuana sales at licensed Missouri dispensaries generated $241 million for these state and local programs, which tripled the state’s original estimates.

“The only way to ensure you actually know what’s in your cannabis this 4/20 is by shopping at a licensed dispensary. Not only can Missourians be assured the product is safe, lab-tested and grown right here in Missouri, they are also helping generate hundreds of millions in revenue each year, supporting everyone from Missouri veterans to local communities,” said Andrew Mullins, MoCannTrade Executive Director. “When walking into a licensed dispensary Missourians are heartened that every single product there is 100% Missouri grown plant medicine made for Missourians by Missourians.”

   

Unfortunately, unregulated cannabis products like Delta 8 sold in Missouri aren’t required to be lab tested and are usually cultivated and manufactured outside Missouri and increasingly overseas, including China. The products are also marketed and sold to children in unsafe packaging that often doesn’t disclose the ingredients or potency. These businesses are also not paying cannabis taxes that fund veterans and local communities. The scary truth is that Missourians who purchase unregulated cannabis have no way to know if the product contains harmful chemicals, contaminants, mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides or poisonous ingredients because there are no regulations.

Since making the first medical marijuana sale in October 2020 and the first adult use cannabis sale in February 2023, Missouri’s marijuana program has been lauded as a national model for generating revenue, providing convenient and safe access to cannabis, positively impacting our economy, and automatically expunging more than 130,000 past, nonviolent marijuana offenses from Missourians’ records. In fact, just last month the Wall Street Journal ran a national story titled “How Missouri Became a Cannabis Mecca” about Missouri’s success in legalizing cannabis.

Missouri’s Cannabis Program by the Numbers:

• Recreational Sales Impact: In its second year of an adult use program, total cannabis sales reached $1.46 billion in 2024—far outpacing original four-year projections of $800-$900 million.
• Tax Revenue Generation: $244.93 million in total sales tax revenue was generated in 2024, with $145.72 million going to state programs and $99.21 million to local governments.
• Medical Marijuana Patient Count Growth: Missouri’s medical marijuana program grew to over 119,674 patients in late 2024. Starting in January 2024, total patient certifications grew every month through December bucking the national trend of declining patient card enrollment after adult-use legalization.