Medicinal marijuana patients in the state of Missouri may be able to start buying products this month.
A St. Louis County lab’s approval to start testing samples of marijuana means that commercial marijuana for medical use could happen sometime this month.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, EKG Labs in Maryland Heights on Sept. 26th became the first of 10 licensed medical marijuana testers to start operations after passing a state inspection.
This means that marijuana being grown by commercial cultivators may undergo state-required testing for safety and potency. Once approved, it can be sold at dispensaries.
Natalie Brown, EKG’s director of operations, has said that testing could begin in the upcoming week.
“We’re hopeful that there will be product on the shelves and dispensaries by early- to mid-October for the patients,” Brown said.
It was in 2018 that voters in the state had approved medicinal marijuana. This month five commercial growers and six dispensaries had passed inspections from the state health department to start growing and selling pot legally. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services administers the state’s medical marijuana program.
Susan Griffith, president of CAMP Cannabis, which stands for Certified Alternative Medicine Providers, expects to undergo its last inspection in December and start planting marijuana early next year. The company hopes to sell to dispensaries by spring.
“As soon as we’re approved we are prepared to get plants in the ground immediately,” Griffith said.
As many as 70,000 Missourians have state permits to legally use medical marijuana.
