Missouri dispensaries see staggering growth since launch of recreational marijuana

Recently, Greenway invited cannabis operators in the state to take part in a survey of the state of the Missouri cannabis industry.

One question posed to dispensary operators in the state asked about business growth since the onset of adult use sales.

“Dispensaries: How much growth have you seen in sales post adult use legalization?”

While each respondent answered that their retail location had seen growth, the data shows a huge boon for Missouri cannabis businesses.

“The legalization of adult use cannabis in Missouri has been highly anticipated for some time, and the statistics make a compelling case for it,” explained Neil Volner, Vice President, of NORTH Dispensaries. “In particular, NORTH has seen a noticeable influx of interstate travelers, which has become a noteworthy trend.  As our operations are located on the eastern side of the state, bordering a state where cannabis is already legal for adult use, we did not anticipate the same level of growth as the western side, specifically Kansas City.  Currently NORTH has provided cannabis to residents of over 40 states & 4 countries.” 

No company reported growth of less than 75%, but more telling is that more than 80% of those surveyed saw growth in excess of 100%, with more than 60% of businesses seeing sales grow more than 2x. Additionally, more than 15% of those surveyed saw sales grow by more than 400% since adult use legalization.

“With our sales increasing over 300%, we have found ourselves unable to ‘Take it Easy’ like usual around here, but that’s because we take our responsibility to our patients very seriously,” said Alex Paulson of Easy Mountain. “We have been working hard to ensure the quality, friendly service that customers have grown to expect from Easy Mountain is still maintained through higher volume days; and with the higher demand for product, we are staying in constant contact with our incredible suppliers to ensure that the wonderful people of Republic and the Springfield areas are well stocked on cannabis options!” 

Missouri saw total retail sales of marijuana increase more than threefold in the state’s first month of adult use sales in February. Greenway projects adult use sales to bring in more than $700 million at retail in 2023, while medical marijuana sales are projected to exceed $300 million this year.

“In addition to all the industry growth we’ve seen since adult use legalization, we’re even more excited to see how Missouri has become one of the example states for how to organize, implement, license, regulate and ensure safe access to cannabis products for patients and adult use consumers. From all accounts, our industry peers from across the country are looking in at Missouri and complimenting how well we’ve done as a state, industry, and association to bring these programs to life. They even compliment our regulators as being accessible, reasonable, and willing to listen to industry feedback when things may possibly go awry, generally to a positive conclusion,” Andrew Mullins of Missouri Cannabis Trade Association stated. “We are so proud of the Missouri cannabis industry and all that it has accomplished in its less than 5 years of existence, it’s no wonder we are seeing medical to adult use program sales multipliers in the 2.5x-4x range. Even more impressive is how the industry responded to this increase in production, sales, and interest with professionalism and grace. I truly believe we have one of if not the best program and industry in the US!”