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Missouri Got High as Hell and Spent $12.7 Million on Weed Last Weekend

Missouri's opening day sales were higher than Illinois' opening day in 2020

Feb 7, 2023 at 9:27 am

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TOMMY CHIMS

People bought a lot of this over the weekend.

Recreational marijuana went legal on Friday, February 3, and stoners and wannabe stoners across the state wasted no time in going to their local dispensary to buy weed. According to MoCannTrade, Missouri sold $12,689,965 worth of product from Friday to Sunday.

LIST: These St. Louis Weed Dispensaries Are Open for Recreational Sales Now: If you're 21 or over, you can now buy marijuana at these shops

On Friday alone, Missouri sold more than $5 million worth of cannabis.

It's not a competition, but during Illinois' first day of legal adult-use marijuana (back in January 2020) the state with more than twice Missouri's population sold only $3.1 million worth of product.

This occurred despite some cities, like Columbia, not being able to start adult-use sales last weekend. Clearly, Missouri was ready to get stoned.

But not all of the sales were recreational marijuana, though that made up the lion's share with $8.5 million in total sales. Medical marijuana license holders purchased $4.2 million.

MoCannTrade also pointed out that Missouri is the second fastest state to ever implement adult-use marijuana, which passed with the Amendment 3 Ballot initiative in early November 2022. Only 87 days later, people were buying recreational marijuana. The only state that implemented adult-use faster is Arizona, which did it in 80 days.

So far the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, whose Division of Cannabis Regulations issues licenses to cannabis growers and sellers, has issued 207 comprehensive dispensary licenses, 72 comprehensive infused-product manufacturing licenses and 56 comprehensive cultivation licenses.

"Our industry was adamant that we would be ready on day one to deliver for Missourians, but I never would have imagined this type of reception," said Andrew Mullins, MoCannTrade's executive director. "To have sold more on opening day than Illinois is quite astounding. These opening weekend sales numbers are a testament to what a great program the Missouri Department of Health has run as well as the level of excitement we see from Missourians about cannabis legalization. The best is yet to come."

Slideshow

All of Your Missouri Recreational Marijuana Questions Answered

Amendment 3, the initiative legalizing recreational use of marijuana, won 53% of the vote in Tuesday's midterm.

Do I need a Missouri ID to buy recreational marijuana?

What age do I need to be to buy recreational marijuana in Missouri?

Click to View 42 slides

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About The Author

Rosalind Early

Rosalind is the former editor-in-chief of the Riverfront Times. She formerly worked for Washington University's alumni magazine and St. Louis Magazine. In 2018, she was selected as a Rising Leader of Color by the Theatre Communications Group. In 2014, she was selected as an Emerging Leader by FOCUS St. Louis...