Reflections ~
The Magic of Missouri
The Watch Me Grow State
by Dolores Halbin, RN, BSN, contributing writer
I
’ m not sure what has been stranger this past week, the change of scenery or the change in weather. Less than a week ago, I was standing on top of The Duck, breaking up two inches of ice so I could move her. Today, it is 70 degrees outside, and Butch White Paws, my two crazy cats, and I are adjusting to life in suburban Kansas City. I will miss the river.
The beauty of Missouri is unique, often unpredictable, and no one knows it better than our grassroots families in the cannabis microbusiness industry.
I have been so blessed and privileged to witness the birth of the new and the survival of the old during my year down at the River Bourbeuse. I have watched my host family, Jim and Katie Thomas of Blue Key CBD, which specializes in producing high-quality, THC-free CBD products, navigate the rocky waters of getting their microbusiness up and running while keeping their CBD company afloat.
I was in Rosebud for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first Hemp Store in the state, Slap Happy Hemp Company. Owners and Navy Veterans John and Kara Grady have been regulars in Jefferson City lately, working hard alongside the Missouri Hemp Trade Association to protect and expand hemp production.
I found a way to feed myself at Strike Ax Coffee Cafe across the street from Slap Happy. Fran makes good food and freezes it
32 March 2026 for people like me who don’ t! Displayed on her countertop is an array of CBD products she has created using Blue Key CBD.
In our unique state, we have pockets of unique communities, and Rosebud is blooming with cannabis products and people wholly committed to the plant. Float trips,
I’ m just-a floating along on the river!
foraging walks, and a campground are available, making Rosebud a destination for next summer! Just ask Katie!
The River
Every day, Butch and I walked to the river. I swam until November. She( the river) welcomed me. Maybe the magic of the Bourbeuse is partly in the energy of the people who come to her requesting healing. She helped me sort out a lot of feelings. She washed away a lot of negative ions. She left me peaceful.
My life has been intertwined with cannabis every day since 2011, when my husband began to grow his own medicine for a nasty case of acute / neovascular glaucoma. I wish he had been around to experience the freedom of growing his beloved plant under the sun, free of bad laws.
But I know he is proud of us. I am proud of us.
The Rocky Start: Telling Moments in Time
In April of 2016, I joined Jeff Mizanskey, who was recently released from a life sentence without the possibility of parole after serving 22 years in prison for less than an ounce. We were Show Me Cannabis back then, and we gathered over 200,000 signatures for Mizanskey’ s release. Then we stood on the steps of the Capitol Building with signs that said,“ Show Me Jeff.” And Governor Nixon did.
Mizanskey and I had been invited to speak at the annual Patients Out of Time conference in Baltimore. At the banquet, I was invited to sit at a table by a handsome middle-aged man.
“ You’ re from Missouri?” he inquired.“ Yes,” I replied.
It took two or three more sentences of introduction before he offered me $ 20,000 cash for using my address. He said,“ When Missouri passes Medical, there are going to be residency requirements. You don’ t have to do anything except let us use your address.”