Greater St. Louis NORML

“Don’t write anything that you don’t want everybody to read. Say it and forget it; write it and regret it.” Instructions from the scoring vendor for licenses couldn't be more clear. A unanimous court ruling is a devastating assessment on how Missouri awarded legal ma*****na market licenses. Scorers’ determinations were based on the subjective valuations of the scorers,” the ruling states. “This fundamental flaw infected the entire scoring process.”

Court orders Missouri to issue 13 ma*****na licenses after scoring flaws exposed • Missouri Independent A Missouri appeals court delivered a sweeping rebuke of the state’s ma*****na licensing process, ordering regulators to award Hippos 13 licenses

"Happy Friday the 13th! It may be scary to some. But one thing that shouldn't be scary is inspections." Really? There's nothing like an unannounced inspection to send thrills down your spine with the thought of losing your dispensary or manufacturing license because of compliance violations. We appreciate the attempt at humor with the Division of Cannabis Regulation's opening remarks on their Friday the 13th emailed newsletter. Maybe it's a kinder, gentler, and softer hammer they are wielding on Missouri Cannabis license holders. Regardless, you can hear all the gory details on DCR's YouTube channel. Find out what Deputy Director Brittany Kirkweg and Compliance Officer Kevin Pitkin have to say about unannounced inspections and what a licensee can expect when the DCR shows up on the doorstep of your favorite dispensary. Shayna and Tara will talk about the Verified Dispensary initiative and what it means to be regulated. Oh goody! We wouldn't want any unsuspecting cannabis consumer to cross the threshold into an unverified H**p shop. Would we?

DCR Out Loud - Season 2, Episode 2 (00:00) Intro with Tara and Shayna(01:19) DCR's Verified Dispensaries Initiative(05:09) Section for Compliance and Enforcement with Brittany and Kevin(18:56)...

"The Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) approved an application scoring process with significant design flaws. Application scorers evaluating the applications for Wise Health Solutions (WHS) were instructed to not document notes to support their scoring decisions, and did not consistently apply redaction rules, which undermined the "blind scoring" goals of the
process. In addition, the DCR did not design the application process in a way that would facilitate review by the DCR," writes Scott Fitzpatrick, Missouri State Auditor in an audit report.

Audit finds flawed scoring cast ‘shadow’ over Missouri medical ma*****na licensing • Missouri Independent Missouri’s ‘blind scoring’ system could be circumvented, State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick found, which clouded the process and sparked costly litigation.

What a year for cannabis in 2025! We’re on the path again to Federal Rescheduling. Consumers with access to legal cannabis use less alcohol negatively affecting alcohol markets. Teen cannabis usage continues to decline. More than 53,000 cannabis plant studies have been cataloged by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an all time high. Support for legalization remains strong with two out of three adults in the US in favor of legalization. However, the cannabis plant remains under attack by Texas, Nebraska, and Ohio lawmakers as well as Federal lawmakers who are restricting federally legal h**p products. State and local law enforcement made nearly 190,000 ma*****na possession-related arrests in 2024, according to data compiled by the FBI. While that total represents a 30-year low, why does ma*****na comprise 22 percent of all drug arrests nationwide? There’s still work to do.

2025 Top Ten Events in Ma*****na Policy NORML's Year in Review