Missouri Cannabis Industry 2025 Year End Review & Top 10 Industry Achievements:

There is much to celebrate across Missouri's cannabis industry:  

To start, December delivered an extraordinary pace of policy progress that few could have anticipated. For those of us working toward sensible cannabis policy in Missouri’s Capitol and alongside our federal partners in Washington, D.C., the rapid advancement of two long-standing policy priorities has been both remarkable and energizing.

1. Congressional action has provided long-awaited clarity around the distinction between hemp and marijuana
2. The hard-fought rescheduling effort has finally crossed the finish line

Together, these developments represent a major turning point. Many across the industry and beyond are now working quickly to adapt to a new and promising landscape.

The implications are significant. Expanded opportunities for cannabis research, combined with the ability for marijuana businesses to operate on equal tax footing with other industries, mark a meaningful step forward. These changes open the door to substantial economic growth in Missouri and strengthen the foundation of the cannabis industry nationwide.

Looking ahead, we are focused on the months to come as these new policies are implemented. We continue to work vigorously to pass the ICCA in the coming Missouri legislative session, and also look to see how these policy changes will improve and advance our industry in real and tangible ways in 2026.  We continue to hope for the passage of SAFE Banking, with this final feather allowing things like consumers to use credit cards, enabling business owners to access traditional capital, and ensuring industry employees are treated fairly when seeking banking needs, car or home loans.

With all of that being said, we remain humble and thankful to our members and industry leaders who continue to work day and night to deliver safe, high-quality 100% Missouri Grown Plant Medicine and to ensure Missouri remains one of, if not THE best cannabis industry in the US.

On behalf of our esteemed board of directors, our advisory board, industry and PAC committee, lobbyists, PR team and staff: thank you so much and congratulations on all of your efforts to make 2025 another historic year of achievement for our amazing Missouri cannabis industry!

#10: Wall Street Journal Proclaims Missouri “Cannabis Mecca”

#10: Wall Street Journal Proclaims Missouri “Cannabis Mecca”

In March, readers from across the globe opened the Wall Street Journal and read this first sentence, “The hottest market for weed is a Republican stronghold in the middle of the country.” The profile piece went on to talk about the economic boost the industry has brought to communities across the state. 

According to the story,

“So far, the weed industry is living up to its promise of helping to boost Missouri’s economy and coffers. Cannabis sales generated $244.9 million in tax revenue for Missouri for 2024, more than four times the annual amount the state had forecast.”

“Warehouses around the state that sat empty for decades are also filling back up. Factories that used to house operations for Maytag and Pepsi now have cannabis firms as tenants.”

The piece points to Missouri’s low-tax rate, sensible regulations, and geography as reasons marijuana legalization has thrived in Missouri, even while other states fail to reach their potential. 

#9: New Attorney General Hanaway Takes Aim At Unregulated Sales

#9: New Attorney General Hanaway Take Aim At Unregulated Sales

On the very day she was sworn in as Missouri’s new Attorney General, Catherine Hanway proclaimed that unregulated cannabis sales at gas stations and smoke shops were a threat to health and public safety. Since then, her office has announced a series of investigations of both the manufacturers and retailers of these products. 

“Missourians deserve honesty and transparency, especially when it comes to products that can alter someone’s mind or put their health at risk,”

Hanaway said in a press release.

“If a business chooses to profit by selling powerful intoxicants while hiding what’s actually in them, my Office will step in. We will not allow Missouri consumers to be treated as test subjects for unregulated chemical experiments.”

Here is another story detailing the initial investigations coming out of the AG's office. 

#8: MoCann Launches 100% Missouri Grown Plant Medicine Campaign

#8: MoCann Launches 100% Missouri Grown Plant Medicine Campaign

In response to customer confusion regarding unregulated cannabis from overseas pouring into Missouri, MoCannTrade launched a campaign to remind medical and adult use cannabis consumers about the benefits of purchasing lab-tested cannabis that was grown, manufactured, tested and sold in Missouri by Missourians.

The 100% Missouri Grown Plant Medicine Campaign partnered with local dispensaries to promote the potential medical benefits of purchasing cannabis from a licensed dispensary. 

The persistent focus of cannabis as medicine seems to be paying off for the Missouri industry. At a time when other adult use states are shedding medical patients at alarming rates, Missouri has increased our patient count a staggering 28 months in a row. 

DCR is also rolling out a marketing program reminding customers that just because a store says dispensary, doesn’t actually mean it’s a licensed dispensary. Their dispensary verification program is meant to counter this confusion as well. 

#7: First Microbusiness Marijuana Sale In Missouri

#7: First Microbusiness Sale In Missouri

This summer the first customer sale at a microbusiness dispensary took place at 816 Dispensary in Platte City. There are now a dozen cannabis microbusinesses that have been approved to operate by DCR. The owner of 816 Dispensary, Jimi Poe, qualified for Missouri’s microbusiness program due to a prior marijuana offense — one of the eligibility criteria designed to provide opportunities for individuals disproportionately impacted by past cannabis laws. 

A lifelong Kansas Citian, Poe has been featured in local and industry media for his journey from navigating the challenges of prohibition to establishing a successful, licensed cannabis business. His story reflects the intent of the program: turning past adversity into meaningful economic opportunity.

“Owning 816 Dispensary isn’t just about opening a business, it’s about closing a chapter of my life that began with my arrest for marijuana years ago, and opening a new one that creates opportunities for others like me,” said Jimi Poe, Owner of 816 Dispensary. “This is full circle for me, and I hope our success inspires other microbusiness owners across Missouri.”

#6: MO Approaching $5 Billion in Legal Cannabis Sales; Surpasses $98 Million in Funding to MO Veterans 

#6: MO Approaching $5 Billion in Legal Cannabis Sales; Surpasses $98 Million in Funding to MO Veterans 

Since the first legal medical marijuana sale in Oct. 2020 to Larry, a cancer survivor, and his wife Sue, an RN, Missouri has sold nearly $5 billion in legal cannabis. In 2025, Missouri is projected to exceed $1.5 billion in sales.

Missouri’s marijuana program has already generated more than $98.3 million to Missouri veterans for their health care. See the complete transfer history of medical and adult use taxes on DCR's site here:   

But it isn’t just statewide programs that are benefiting from our industry; in 2025 alone, local Missouri governments are expected to receive more than $100 million in additional sales tax generated from cannabis sales which can fund a variety of local needs from police staff or equipment, public health & safety and/or parks and recreation. 

#5: Q2 Meetup in KC Breaks Records

#5: Q2 Meetup in KC Breaks Records 

Our member meetups have become the primary vehicle for the Missouri cannabis industry to gather face-to-face to discuss business, policy, supply chain, innovation, regulatory needs and concerns with a broad cross-section of non-industry attendees like legislators, regulators, health and public safety leaders.

Since 2018, MoCann has hosted over 75 member meetups across the state with attendance averaging between 400-700 industry leaders at each event.

The June Q2 meetup in KC was our largest industry gathering to date (outside of the MoCannBizCon statewide cannabis conferences) with over 900 in attendance. The success of our meetups goes beyond attendance, MoCann meetups have become essentially THE ONLY BtoB cannabis industry event in Missouri.  

At a time when many other state's cannabis industries struggle to bring their industry together in a meaningful way, Missouri operators and MoCann members look forward to these quarterly gatherings to get business and policy impact done. 

Many cannabis industry voices tout the intimate and friendly atmosphere when doing business in Missouri and we'd like to think the relationships made and fostered at our meetups are a big reason why Missouri is regularly recognized as the best state-based industries in the US.  

#4: MoCann Releases Missouri Hemp Hoax Report

#4: MoCann Releases Missouri Hemp Hoax Report

This fall MoCannTrade released an investigative report, the Missouri Hemp Hoax Report, which revealed that unregulated retailers across Missouri are selling illegal, intoxicating marijuana products deceptively marketed as “hemp.” By fraudulently calling these intoxicating cannabis products hemp, bad actors are attempting to evade regulation, lab testing requirements, marijuana taxes and safeguards meant to protect the health and public safety of Missourians.

Some of these intoxicating products are even being marketed to kids by packaging them to look like candy.

The Missouri Hemp Hoax Report sent 55 products purchased from smoke shops, gas stations, and fake dispensaries statewide to state licensed testing labs and found that 96% were actually marijuana or synthetic THC, not legal hemp. The legal limit for a cannabis plant to be considered hemp is .3% total THC or less. 

Most of these products contained far more THC than allowed by law, with one product found to contain up to 89% THC, which is 298 times the legal limit. Additionally, 29% of the products tested positive for dangerous contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and residual solvents.

The report led to considerable media coverage, including stories here, here and here and continues to be a reference for law enforcement and policy makers across the state.

#3: MO Supreme Court Delivers Tax Stacking Victory to Marijuana Customers, Businesses 

#3: MO Supreme Court Delivers Tax Stacking Victory to Marijuana Customers, Businesses 

By a 6-1 decision, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in July that counties cannot place an extra 3% sales tax on adult use marijuana sales that take place inside a city limit. The historic ruling will save Missouri cannabis customers an estimated $3 million every month. 

Only days after counties began unconstitutionally stacking both municipal and county taxes on adult use sales in October 2023, the industry brought a lawsuit to halt this practice, with Robust Dispensaries as the plaintiff.

“Missouri customers already pay their fair share, with sales tax revenue from cannabis in Missouri now tripling original state estimates,”

Andrew Mullins said.

“The ruling’s clarity preserves Missouri’s standing as one of the nation’s most impactful and accessible cannabis programs, ensuring patients and adult-use consumers continue to benefit from fair pricing, great service and robust product choice.”

 

 

#2: Congress, President Trump Finally Pass Law Closing the Intoxicating Hemp Loophole 

#2: Congress, President Trump Finally Pass Law Closing the Intoxicating Hemp Loophole 

Nearly seven years after passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which mistakenly allowed unregulated cannabis sales, a federal law was passed and signed into law by President Trump in November that closes the “hemp” loophole. In a Congress that has been plagued by partisan fights and inaction, it was a truly historic event for members of both parties to come together and get this new federal law passed. 

Now that Congress and the President have closed the federal loophole to protect health and public safety, we will be working with state policymakers on revised ICCA legislation to align state law with federal law and to allow for enforcement of this new ban. 

The new federal law does a few important things:

• Bans “any final hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing … greater than 0.4 milligrams combined total” of THC or “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects).” The .4mg THC limit is per container or package.
• Bans cannabinoids produced from hemp that are not naturally in the plant or are synthesized from it.
• Defines hemp as “the plant Cannabis sativa… and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids… with a total biomass tetrahydrocannabinols concentration (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid or THCa) of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.”

#1: President Trump Announces Historic Rescheduling of Marijuana, Recognizing Cannabis as Medicine 

#1: President Trump Announces Historic Rescheduling of Marijuana, Recognizing Cannabis as Medicine 

Last Thursday President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Department of Justice to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA.) MoCannTrade submitted formal comments to the DEA in support of rescheduling on June 30, 2024.

MoCannTrade supports rescheduling because it properly recognizes cannabis as medicine, it allows for greater research of marijuana, and because the punitive 280E tax code will no longer apply to cannabis businesses, it finally treats the industry like all other small businesses for tax purposes.  Having improved access, research and tax parity for licensed Missouri marijuana businesses is a gigantic win for all cannabis stakeholders.  

MoCannTrade Executive Director Andrew Mullins goes on to say: 

"Having our federal government finally recognize what we've known all along, that cannabis is medicine and that recognition will help to open doors, initiate discussions, generate significantly more evidence based research and frankly help normalize the plant and the cannabis industry in places previously not open to those discussions or opportunities. 

We've seen so much anecdotal recognition for how cannabis improves the lives of patients and consumers since the Missouri program's first sale .... having medical leaders, policy leaders and medical researchers put a finer point on this is so exciting."  

As one of the best marijuana programs in the entire country, Missouri is well positioned to take advantage of the most comprehensive federal cannabis reform of the last half century.