Some medical marijuana dispensaries opening soon, but area outlets could take longer

Medical marijuana could be available in parts of Missouri within days, but it could be November, if not December or January, before dispensaries open in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

“We could see product sold to patients as early as this week,” according to Lisa Cox, public information director with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

“Some (dispensaries) are already open as they were already selling non-marijuana products,” she told the Southeast Missourian. “We are very close to seeing sales start to take place now that two testing laboratories and multiple cultivation facilities have been approved.”

It has been nearly two years since Missouri voters approved the state’s medical marijuana program. Over that period, DHSS has implemented statewide oversight and licensing procedures for the cultivation, testing, manufacturing, transportation and distribution of medical cannabis for qualified patients and their licensed caregivers.

The first medical marijuana sales, Cox said, will “likely” be in the St. Louis or Kansas City areas.

Once a service station and most recently a restaurant, this building at 1001 Broadway is being renovated by Cape Girardeau Investments LLC to be a medical marijuana dispensary.Jay Wolz

“It’s tough to say,” she said. “The ball is in their court once they are approved, so it’s up to them and the cultivators and labs they work with.”

But while some outlets in some of Missouri’s larger metropolitan areas could initiate retail sales within a matter of days, several dispensary developers in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area say they don’t expect to open until December or January.

“We’re about to begin renovations at our site and we’re targeting an opening early next year,” said Vishal Rungta, president of QPS Missouri Holdings LLC. The company is licensed to open a dispensary in the front half of a commercial building at 772 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

Rungta’s company has four other dispensary locations in Missouri and a manufacturing license in the state, as well. In addition to its Missouri operations, QPS has medical marijuana interests in Michigan, Oregon and Massachusetts.

“Product is going to be tight at the beginning,” he said, and while he expects there to be plenty of consumer enthusiasm, he wants to be sure there’s enough supply to meet demand.

Organic Remedies MO Inc. plans to open a medical marijuana dispensary in mid-January at 350 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, formerly the home of the Lemonade Grill.Jay Wolz

“We don’t want to open and have very little to offer folks,” Rungta said.

Krystal Wright represents Greenlight, a dispensary under development in Cape Girardeau, and three other Greenlight dispensaries in Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Hayti, Missouri. Greenlight’s Cape Girardeau dispensary, owned by Cape Girardeau Investments LLC, will be at 1001 Broadway, across the street from the Southeast Missouri State University Alumni Center parking lot.

Wright said the dispensaries she represents “should be ready for commencement (inspections)” by DHSS in November, a step the state requires before allowing any medical marijuana licensee to begin operations.

The former Lemonade Grill, 350 N. Kingshighway, will be another dispensary location and will be one of three dispensaries in Missouri owned by Organic Remedies MO Inc., with the others in Fenton and Sedalia.

“We expect to open our three dispensaries in Missouri in mid-January,” company president Eric Hauser said.

Bloom Medicinals of Missouri LLC is licensed to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 1802 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, just west of Jimmy John's.Jay Wolz

Developers of a fourth Cape Girardeau dispensary, Bloom Medicinals of Missouri LLC, did not respond to the Missourian’s email request for information about its planned medical marijuana outlet at 1802 Broadway, just west of Jimmy John’s.

Meanwhile, in Jackson, work is “90% complete” at The Herbalist dispensary, according to Justin Neely, managing member of Missouri Medical Marijuana Collective LLC, which plans to open dispensaries in Jackson and Kennett, Missouri.

Neely said his organization’s dispensaries will likely go through the commencement inspection process in November, but probably won’t open until the “second or third week of January” when product becomes more plentiful. “Raw flower” products, he said, will be probably available first, followed by “concentrates and edibles” in late January.

Do you crave business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Check it out at www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.