Stop us if you’ve heard this one, but Missouri’s medical marijuana enthusiasm has far exceeded expectations. Yes, the same state that saw a swarm of pre-application registrants, and a deluge of medical marijuana licensing applications has once again eclipsed initial projections. The St Louis Post-Dispatch reports that nearly 22,000 residents of the Show-Me State have registered for a medical marijuana card. According to the Post-Dispatch, state-appointed researchers weren’t expecting the state to hit that figure until the end of 2020, not within the first six months. Oopsies!

The volume of cardholders certainly jibes with Missouri’s expansive licensing program that allows 60 commercial marijuana growers, 192 dispensaries and 86 facilities that manufacture infused products. Now the question seems to be if that will be enough licensed operators to handle the demand.

Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan leading the way

The surge in cardholders in Missouri is testament to the turning tide and dissolving stigma on cannabis in the Heartland. Oklahoma, as it has been widely reported, is doing gangbusters from a revenue standpoint. Ohio continues to see better than expected enthusiasm and sales of cannabis, despite a lack of accessibility. Meanwhile, Michigan just started adult-use sales and, if you didn’t know, Illinois will be launching its own adult-use market come January 1, 2020.

Missouri, somewhat similarly to neighboring Oklahoma, has been pretty open with licensing and cards. While it is not the full-throttle and wide-open approach that Oklahoma took, Missouri’s much closer to that than say Minnesota, which is finally opening up its medical program a full five years after instituting it.

While 2019 has been a year that a lot of us out west would like to forget, Midwestern states have been relatively crushing it. While we have some concerns about the available supply of licensed product for some Midwest states, Illinois in particular, we feel pretty confident about Missouri being able to handle things for now. But if they get another 22,000 medical cardholders in the next six months? Let’s cross that bridge when we get there.

Have questions about licensing or compliance in the Midwest or anywhere else in the US? Reach out to MMLG.