A Robust Cannabis employee showcases the company's Black Hole Sun strain at their warehouse in Cuba, Mo. (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level – but that doesn’t mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug. Moving marijuana from the government’s list of the most dangerous and least useful substances to a less serious category was a clear signal that the federal government, at least under President ..read more

A Robust Cannabis employee showcases the company's Black Hole Sun strain at their warehouse in Cuba, Missouri (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). A judge in St. Louis ruled Thursday that local municipalities can stack sales taxes on marijuana dispensaries, the first court ruling on a much-debated issue playing out around the state.  The lawsuit was filed by Robust Missouri 3 LLC. The company saw its Florissant dispensary’s tax rate on cannabis products rise to 14.988% after both the city and St. Louis County approved 3% sales taxes on adult-use marijuana in April 2023. The constitution ..read more

(Carol Yepes/Getty Images). Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administration’s move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Department’s announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act. But they said it ..read more

(Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent) The Biden administration plans to remove marijuana from a list of the most dangerous and highly regulated drugs, the Department of Justice said Tuesday night. The Drug Enforcement Administration will propose moving the drug from a Schedule I substance, which also includes heroin and methamphetamine, to Schedule III, which is the category for regulated-but-legal drugs including testosterone and Tylenol with codeine. “Today, the Attorney General circulated a proposal to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III,” DOJ spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa ..read more

(Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent) Two Missouri social-equity licensees connected to a Michigan company that used Craigslist to recruit applicants have appealed the state’s decision to revoke their dispensary licenses.  The Michigan company, Canna Zoned, was behind two of the 16 microbusiness dispensary licenses issued by lottery in October — Frankenstein Enemy LLC in Columbia and Seashore Rhythm LLC in Arnold. Both licenses were revoked on March 27. Their appeals will be argued before the Administrative Hearing Commission on Sept. 26.  Missouri’s microbusiness license progra ..read more

Flora Farms dispensaries were among those that experienced technical difficulties on 4/20, including this location at the Arkansas border (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). April 20 is a day recognized globally for celebrating cannabis culture, but it’s also like the cannabis industry’s Black Friday.  Dispensaries offer deals designed to inspire people to flood their stores to stock up.  However on Saturday, dispensaries across the state using an inventory platform called Dutchie were hamstrung for hours by technical challenges, which caused many of their registers to go down or ..read more

Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks at a press conference in the Missouri House Lounge, flanked by House Speaker Dean Plocher, left, and state Rep. Justin Sparks (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into four companies Wednesday as part of an effort to crack down on intoxicating hemp products. The problem, according to Bailey, is the products in question — such Delta-8 edibles and vape pens — are not clearly labeled to indicate that they’ll get you high. “When purchasing products, Missourians have a right to know if th ..read more

Amy Moore, (right) director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, speaks at the National Cannabis Industry Association's summit on March 28, 2024 in St. Louis. At left is Mitch Meyers, partner at BeLeaf Medical marijuana company. (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). Veterans John and Kara Grady received a Facebook message last week from a man who was, “looking for a female veteran to be part of our dispensary license.”  Being a veteran is one of the seven categories that makes people eligible to win one of the state’s social-equity marijuana licenses, called “microbusiness li ..read more

Marilyn Gleason, the director of human resources for BeLeaf Medical marijuana company, signs a sealed envelope containing 11 BeLeaf employees' votes that the company is contesting as not being eligible to unionize on Feb. 6, 2024 (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent). A push by workers in a St. Louis marijuana facility to form a union could have national ramifications on labor law, with the company hoping to block their effort by asking the federal government to intervene.  At issue is a group of “post-harvest workers” at BeLeaf Medical’s Sinse cultivation facility in St. Louis. They have ..read more

(Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent) Jack Maritz was working at Delta Extraction, a marijuana manufacturing facility in Robertsville, in February 2023 when the company’s regular state compliance officer stopped by unannounced.  The officer, Heather Bilyeu, wanted to make sure Delta had “accurate counts” in the state’s tracking database of how much THC distillate, or concentrated THC oil, they had in the building. “We weighed every jar of distillate that we had together,” Maritz, the manager of the facility and part owner, said in a hearing Wednesday. “She watched me weigh it.” Then she a ..read more