Missouri cannabis revenue of nearly $17 million is going to state programs that support veterans’ health, drug treatment, and legal aid.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced that it had transferred $13 Million from its medical marijuana program to Missouri Veterans Commission. This money will be used for health care and to provide other services to veterans and their families.
Separately DHSS announced that it had transferred nearly $4,000,000 ($3,836,919) from the state’s adult-use marijuana program to agencies, which Missouri voters approved at the polls in November. Three agencies received $1,278,973 each: The Veterans Commission for health care services and other benefits for veterans and their families; the State Public Defender’s Office for legal aid for low-income individuals and DHSS to improve access to drug treatment and overdose prevention services.
In a Tuesday statement that was part of the announcement, Amy Moore, Director of DHSS’s Division of Cannabis Regulation said, “It is incredible that Missouri voters approved the adult-use amendment less than a year ago. We are now beginning to see the financial impacts the program will have on many organizations and Missourians that they serve.”
Paul Kirchhoff said that the funds will “help MVC continue to maintain the existing infrastructure at our seven Veterans Homes.”
Since Missouri’s medical marijuana program was launched in 2018, the amount transferred to veterans under the program has reached nearly $40 million. In 2020, dispensary sales started.
Missouri regulators have been tangled in a variety of issues surrounding the new legal marijuana market. A state legislator called for an investigation of “egregious abuse” of the state’s social equity licensing system by cannabis businesses after local news reports revealed that a company recruited equity license candidates on Craigslist, and then involved them in deals where they would not see any profits. The state NAACP threatened to sue the company over this dispute.
The marijuana businesses are also filing lawsuits over the new cannabis taxes which took effect on October . They claim that under state law, state and local tax rate cannot be “stacked”.
State regulators also recalled almost 63,000 cannabis products allegedly made with hemp grown outside of Missouri to produce THC. DHSS announced in early October that if a licensed company wishes to destroy these products, they now have a legal path to do so. hearings on the recall were delayed until December.
Recently, regulators also announced the lottery winners for microbusiness licenses.
Missouri colleges are offering courses on marijuana in addition to the regulatory requirements. This is done to prepare students for a career in the legal cannabis sector. Truman State University in Kirksville recently introduced a bachelor degree program in natural medicine and cannabis. Some classes offer hands-on training using hemp plants, even though most are offered online.
The U.S. Census Bureau published a map in recent weeks that shows the percentage of revenue from marijuana taxes for each state. Missouri’s marijuana tax revenue is just 0.92 percent of its total state income, according to the most recent available data.
The agency released a report late last month showing that the states with legal cannabis had collected over $5.7 billion in marijuana taxes during an 18-month period. It plans to continue updating this figure quarterly. Census updated its survey of private businesses in order to better capture marijuana related economic activity.
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The post Missouri Spends 17 Million Dollars in Marijuana Revenue to Fund Veterans Services and Drug Treatment appeared initially on Marijuana Moment.
