KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marijuana dispensaries in Missouri are preparing for the legal sale of recreational marijuana beginning on Feb. 6, 2023.
Geordie Pollock, director of retail at Fresh Karma's, says after initial excitement, he and his team got to work.
"At first, it was very exciting," he said. "And it was a lot of high-fives and a lot of excitement, but pretty much the next day it was, 'Okay what do we need to do to make this possible?"
Three hundred and eighteen of the Missouri's 322 licensed medical dispensaries are asking those same questions — all getting ready for Feb. 6 — when people can legally buy from recreationally-licensed sellers.
"Preparation of staff, preparation of product," Pollock said. "Just changing for three to five times more business than we've had up to this point."
Ahead of that demand, Jericho Heese, director of marketing at Fresh Karma's, has already seen a boom in questions.
"You know, most everyone now has family members asking questions," Heese said. "So Christmas has turned into, 'How was your year, tell me all about cannabis'"
Now, Fresh Karma and 317 places like them are waiting for the state to approve their switch from medical to recreational, but they aren't too worried.
"They want to do it right together, as opposed to policing us at this point, which has been a really wonderful experience," Pollock said of working with the state.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, who's in charge of regulating marijuana-related applications, says it's finalizing a draft of rules dispensaries will have to follow.
The department expects to have those out before Feb. 6.
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