Restricting patient purchasing power does not have a neutral effect. This disrupts the care system, increases mistrust and excludes those with most to lose.
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
Cannabis advocacy groups are raising the alarm over state regulations that limit how much medical cannabis patients can buy from licensed dispensaries.
Dispensaries must track the amount of medical marijuana that patients purchase to ensure they do not exceed their limits.
According to a FAQ that was added earlier this year to the website of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the state’s cannabis regulatory agency, if patients reach their limit they are not legally allowed to buy marijuana like as a recreational consumer.
“…patient ID card holders are not allowed to purchase as a consumer in a licensed dispensary,” the website states. The regulations are designed to ensure consumers and patients stay within the limits of their permitted possession.
Patients are generally limited to 6 ounces of unprocessed, dried marijuana per month. Recreational consumers are allowed to purchase up to 3 ounces every day—but can’t possess more than 3 ounces.
It is illegal for the state to track purchases made by people without patient identification cards.
Andrew Mullins, executive director of the Missouri Marijuana Trade Association, sent a letter to leaders of the Division of Cannabis Regulation in April claiming the policy is unconstitutional.
He wrote: “We do not believe DCR’s interpretation of Missourians as either adult consumers or medical patients is a good interpretation, nor does it represent a sound public policy.”
Mullins stated that the policy was also in conflict with what division members were told in February 2023 – just a few days after Missouri recreational marijuana sales started. In an email sent in response to a question from an industry member, the division stated that patients over 21 could “purchase cannabis products on a consumer basis.”
Lisa Cox is the spokeswoman of the division. She said that February’s email was “inaccurate and sent in error.” She said that the email was sent a few weeks before August 2023 when the administrative rules for recreational cannabis would be finalized.
Cox confirmed that “the department received and reviewed correspondence from MoCann Trade in regards to the communication which was sent by mistake.” The department engaged with MoCann Trade directly to respond to their concerns, and informed them that policies were currently being reviewed.
Brennan England believes that there should be coordinated efforts to reverse the law.
“We in the Black and Brown medical community were early adopters—seeking primarily legal protection, consistent access and affordability…” he said. Restricting the purchasing power of patients is not neutral. The act disrupts health care, increases distrust, and shuts out the first to move with the greatest stakes.
England, who has been a medical cannabis patient for many years and is also a leader in the community, started organizing medical marijuana reforms in 2014. He led several of Missouri’s biggest signature drives, as well as public education and awareness events. He opened The Cola Lounge – Missouri’s very first private cannabis consumption area – in August 2019. This was the same month that state protections were implemented for medical marijuana patients.
England feels that the regulation harms minority groups disproportionately. It believes a repeal of this rule should be followed up by a joint policy briefing with divisional leaders, affected patients, licensed operators, and legal advisers.
England stated, “We need a strategy to humanize the process beyond policy.” “That means real conversations—not just statements—where regulators hear firsthand from patients and communities affected. Sitting across from someone whose treatment has been denied or delayed by the rule is quite another. This creates an impact on the audience that only data cannot.”
The original publication of this story is Missouri Independent.
Due to competing priorities, the sponsor of a GOP Marijuana Banking Bill says that he will not be pushing it forward until Fall.