From
Bill Cromwell , Publisher
TheEditor
, Editor-in-Chief
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5th Anniversary Edition
provide their services , allowing a patient a medical use certification ? Well , no dispensary would have opened in 2020 , no sales until adult use passed , and dispensaries would not have opened until three years later in February 2023 . We would have been two years behind with the amount and vast selection of products available today . Remember , medical patient sales tax is fixed at 4 % in Missouri . However , there ’ s a tax of 6 % on every recreational sale , and individual cities can tack on another 3 %, so consider that when your medical card comes up for renewal .
Change within this industry will continue to appear for consumers . You may have visited a dispensary in 2022 and loved the company , its available products , and helpful budtenders , only to pull into the parking lot today and find a new business name on the storefront . What used to be mom-and-pop dispensaries ( for lack of a better term ) are now owned by national-type companies ; one owns roughly 23 locations in this state . Originally , in 2020 , when licenses were awarded , the rules stated up to 5 cannabis dispensary licenses , and / or 3 cultivation licenses , and / or 3 manufacturing licenses may be issued to “ any entity under substantially common control , ownership , or management .” This requirement / rule was to keep ownership with Missouri residents . That ’ s changed !
What hasn ’ t changed is our extreme gratitude to our expert writers , several of whom have contributed amazing educational content for our readers monthly for the past five years . It ’ s always a pleasure to hear from readers who follow one writer or another each month to learn more about cannabis ’ medical uses , the products available at dispensaries , best practices for growing at home , industry news , topics of the day , and more . I ’ ve also learned so much from every article they ’ ve written . I hope that you have as well .
The first June 2019 issue was 32 pages . Today , it ’ s 64 pages .
This magazine will continue providing educational information for medical-use patients and various new product profiles to better inform our readers of the possible benefits of health-related issues . Along with Missouri cannabis industry news , we plan to include more lifestyle and entertainment content for both our patient and adult-use readers . A lot of great content is in the works for 2024 and beyond ! We thank our readers and advertisers for your support !
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Nurses in Cannabis Education Struggle Within An Evolving Industry
At that time , we believed we could help more patients if we were ensuring budtenders were educated because that is where most patients were getting their information . Like I said , education is a hard sell , but after each class , we knew we were doing the right thing . My all-time favorite quote was from a dispensary GM who managed stores both in Colorado and Michigan before he arrived in Missouri . He said , “ Dispensaries spend a lot of money on bull shit , and this is not one of them .”
We get it . We know it ’ s hard to get people to show up to work these days , and the turnover is ridiculous , but we also know that most people who choose to work in dispensaries do so because they love the plant or want to help people . According to many of our students , our education gave them the foundation and confidence they needed to do that .
When training budtenders , I met so many wonderful advocates . I have also been fortunate to educate law enforcement on the medical value of cannabis and teach at Saint Louis University and St . Louis Community College .
April Hatch wrote an article in the July 2020 issue about the struggles parents face with being allowed to access cannabis to help children with certain health issues when pharmaceuticals don ’ t work . Deborah and Devonte with their four-year-old ( at the time ) daughter , Ariah , talked about how cannabis helped with Ariah ’ s seizures .
It has always been and remains my dream to work full-time as a nurse , teaching patients how not only plants but diet and exercise can improve their health , and I am happy that a few organizations still send patients our way . I am grateful for all the support I have received from the cannabis community and industry . However , until cannabis is descheduled and healthcare professionals can be reimbursed for education , nurses like me will just keep showing up and doing the best we can .
April Hatch is a Registered Nurse and the co-founder of Cannabis Care Team , where she provides education , support , and advocacy for cannabis patients . She came to know the benefits of cannabis when she saw how miraculously it worked for her own child . She understands how overwhelming starting cannabis treatment can be and can proudly say her patients have the confidence they need to make informed healthcare decisions . She can be reached at april @ cannabiscareteam . com .
34 June 2024