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What does legal recreational drug mean for the St. Louis culinary industry?
One of the most watched items on the ballot in the upcoming state election on Tuesday, November 8, is Amendment 3, a legal amendment that legalizes recreational drug use in Missouri. If passed, it would affect the food and beverage community in several ways.
“People only get adult use licenses for the first two years [after passage] This means people who have obtained medical marijuana licenses,” said Brennan England, director of Minorities for Medical Marijuana. “The plug-and-play will be perfect for you to use hard at pharmacies. ”
This means that those who want to market edible drug products must go back to existing license holders if they are not already in the pharmaceutical industry.
“If a chef wants to have a product line and have something on the shelves, then boundaries and barriers come up very quickly,” England said. “That’s something you’ll see more of – a brand that creates strategic partnerships with thought leaders and influencers in the community to bring their products to the limelight.”
Some say that the limits on who can enter the profession are not favorable to those who have entered the medical profession and affect the minority. Dr. Tiffanie Jones, ND, a longtime member of the Missouri drug community and a farmer for a local pharmaceutical company, said the way licenses are distributed creates an uneven playing field.
“The ‘lottery’ for auto licenses, under the guise of helping the low-income and minority, creates a niche market, but it’s not the same,” Jones said via Facebook Messenger. , stating that current out-of-state medical license holders can. Apply for Missouri recreation licenses.
The proposed amendment would allow councils to create concessions that allow individuals to host pop-up-style events and pay for them, England said, something that would otherwise be impossible. under current laws. England, who also founded the Cannabis Club St. Louis, the group said it would expand the cannabis-informed nutritionists it hosts at its event venue, The Cola Lounge, if the amendment passes.
For recreational license holders, Section 3 of Amendment 3 will make the market more accessible.
“The biggest impact on our business is the ability to serve a larger audience,” said Tony Billmeyer, chief marketing officer of Show-Me Organics, which owns Vivid, Buoyant Bob and Missouri’s Own Edibles. “Right now, I believe we have over 200,000 patients in Missouri, so going from a small portion of the population to the entire population of Missouri is very exciting for us.”
Show-Me Organics has done many collaborations, most notably with Old Vienna. Missouri’s Own Edibles partnered with the snack company to create a THC-infused version of Red Hot Riplets potato chips (dubbed Twice Baked), as well as brownies with Red Hot Riplets flavor. Billmeyer said Show-Me Organic is also considering introducing cannabis to the market in the near future and will expand its partnership with The Coffee Ethic out of Springfield.
“We feel we are in a good position as our brands are on the shelves in 95 percent of the pharmacies in the state and now we are looking to expand to flower and bringing high-quality flowers to those fields. “, he said, without the adjustment, it will affect the size of the company’s deliveries but not its way of doing business.
“We’re focused on winning in Missouri, whether it’s the pharmaceutical market or the recreational market,” he said.
For his part, Jones is concerned about the kinds of products that could be developed if the 3 passes.
“In terms of the impact on the food industry, so far we’ve seen sugar-free products being made for Missouri’s prescription drug patients,” Jones said. “If the new laws on ‘legal’ cannabis are passed, we will likely see more American junk food products entering the market. Foods are the cause of many chronic diseases. .Introducing them is not a cure.
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