When dispensaries first open, it is likely they will only have flower to offer patients in their initial sales. Pre-rolls likely won’t even be available at first to patients, based on the language of a guidance letter penned by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Section for Medical Marijuana on Monday, September 28, 2020.

This latest letter specifically bans dispensaries from making pre-rolls on site as a patient service, denoting that Missouri’s constitutional program only gives manufacturers the right to make any product.

The letter also says that all products must be sold in their final form, raising some questions from the industry as to whether deli-style product will be allowed to be sold, due to the marijuana flower being packaged on-site and made into a product.

However, Lisa Cox, the spokesperson for DHSS, addressed and corrected this confusion.

“Nothing has changed about our previous guidance on deli-style dispensing, which we do not view as changing the product after testing,” said Lisa Cox, spokesperson for DHSS. “The requirement that medical marijuana is in its final form before sale also does not affect packaging guidance. The requirement is about the product itself and not its packaging.”

The letter was published within weeks of Missouri’s first dispensaries having passed inspection.

Missouri’s first testing lab approved to operate, EKG Labs, passed its final inspection on Friday, September 25.

As of late September, Missouri has 11 facilities total approved to operate, made up of 5 cultivators, 5 dispensaries, and 1 testing lab.

Many expect the first dispensary sales to begin within the next month or so.

Learn more here about getting your medical marijuana card!