As Missouri drafts its first medical marijuana rules, a forum will come to Springfield

Missouri officials announced a series of four public meetings to be held around the state as the Department of Health and Senior services continues writing regulations for the state's medical marijuana program, approved by 65 percent of voters in November 2018.

The state held a forum in Jefferson City on Feb. 13, and 300 people attended, officials said.

The meeting schedule includes the state's three biggest cities:

• 5-8 p.m. Feb. 27 in Poplar Bluff - Three Rivers Community College, 2080 Tinnin Fine Arts Center
• 5-8 p.m. Feb. 28 in St. Louis – TBA
• 5-8 p.m. March 6 in Kansas City – TBA
• 5-8 p.m. March 7 in Springfield - Ozarks Technical Community College

A DHSS news release said the forums were for interested individuals to leave thoughtful feedback about what should or should not be included in Missouri medical marijuana regulations.

“The input received at the first forum hosted in Jefferson City was very helpful to us,” said Lyndall Fraker, director of the DHSS medical marijuana program, in the news release.

He added, “The feedback we received from attendees was that the opportunity to have their voices heard was appreciated, so we have decided to extend these opportunities to other areas throughout the state.”

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DHSS has now released its first draft of rules. This set of rules is specifically focused on the qualified patient and primary caregiver. Additional drafts of proposed rules addressing other components of the medical marijuana program will be posted online as they are drafted. DHSS encourages feedback on this draft as well as future drafts as these are not final. Suggestions can be submitted using an online form on the DHSS website.

Officials said that as of Wednesday, the state has received 434 pre-filed facility license application forms and fees totaling more than $3.1 million.

Among those, 237 are for dispensary facilities. DHSS has broken those down by congressional district.

•    District 1 – 36
•    District 2 – 17
•    District 3 – 38
•    District 4 – 27
•    District 5 – 58
•    District 6 – 14
•    District 7 – 33
•    District 8 – 14

District 7 covers Springfield, is represented in Congress by Rep. Billy Long, a Republican, and has 33 pre-filed forms for dispensaries.

The district with the largest number of applications, District 5 in the Kansas City area, is represented by Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat who was formerly mayor of Kansas City.

State officials have not released copies of the pre-filed forms as requested by various news outlets, citing provisions of the amendment related to confidentiality. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently filed a lawsuit seeking the documents.

Amendment 2 calls for at least 192 dispensaries to be evenly spread among Missouri's eight congressional districts. The licenses must be awarded by Dec. 31; DHSS must begin taking applications for dispensaries, cultivation and manufacturing licenses no later than Aug. 3.

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