The state health department update is ‘especially significant,’ advocates say, because Missouri has increased its patient count, reaching a two-year high in medical marijuana patient applications last month.
BY: REBECCA RIVAS
Missouri Independent
Missouri cannabis regulators have changed their guidance on whether or not medical marijuana patients can purchase from licensed dispensaries as a regular consumer, following complaints over the last year that the state’s policy was an unconstitutional restriction.
But the update ended up causing more confusion about what patients can or can’t do, cannabis advocates say.
In the FAQ section of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ website, it lists the question: As a qualifying patient over the age of 21, can I choose to purchase marijuana as a patient and also purchase marijuana as a consumer?
Previously, the answer was a straight “no.”
“…patient ID card holders are not allowed to purchase as a consumer in a licensed dispensary,” the department, which is Missouri’s cannabis regulatory agency, stated.
The rule, regulators said, was meant to ensure that patients and consumers stay within their allowed possession limits.
But on Dec. 8, the department changed the answer to say they don’t exactly know.
It now says: “State law does not explicitly address the question of whether an individual may choose to purchase marijuana as a consumer once they have been approved as a patient and assigned a purchase and possession limit according to that status.”
The Independent asked DHSS if medical patients need to show their patient ID card every time they buy marijuana from a dispensary — a question the cannabis advocacy group Missouri NORML has urged the department to clarify.
Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the department, said the law is “not clear” about it, “so DHSS is not instructing patients that they must do so,” in an email to The Independent.
Dan Viets, an attorney and board member for Missouri NORML, said he’s pleased the department has changed its position on that question — but less so on another issue.
Viets initially interpreted the department’s update to mean that the state now agreed with NORML that medical patients may purchase the same amount of cannabis as other adult consumers.
In general, medical patients are limited to a 6-ounce allotment of dried, unprocessed marijuana every 30 days. Recreational consumers are allowed to purchase up to 3 ounces every day — but they can’t possess more than 3 ounces at any one time.
Cox said it is not the department’s position that “patients and consumers have the same purchase limits. These limits are different in law, and patient limits are often specific to each individual.”
She said “the law is clear” that individuals may not exceed purchase limitations by combining patient and consumer purchases.
For recreational consumers, the state is prohibited by law from tracking their purchases without their permission.
However by law, dispensaries are required to track how much medical marijuana patients buy so they don’t exceed their limit. And dispensaries are required to report to the department if they observe an individual exceeding their purchase or possession limits, which can lead to fines or criminal charges, the department’s website states.
Cox said penalties for medical patients are uncommon, and the department has never had to revoke a patient card over possession limits.
While there are some extra steps involved, Viets said there are good reasons for people to maintain their patient status.
“Not only because you pay less sales tax,” Viets said, “but I think more importantly, because you enjoy the constitutional protection against employment discrimination.”
Andrew Mullins, executive director of the Missouri Marijuana Trade Association, sent a letter in April to leaders of the Division of Cannabis Regulation claiming the previous FAQ wording was unconstitutional.
“We believe that DCR’s interpretation that a Missourian must either be an adult-use consumer or a medical patient is neither good public policy nor a constitutionally sound interpretation,” he wrote.
After the FAQ was changed online, MoCann Trade celebrated the revision.
“We are thankful that despite some initial confusion, it now appears that DCR agrees that medical marijuana patients can also exercise their purchasing rights as an adult use customer, so long as they abide by the possession limit,” Mullins told The Independent.
He said it’s “especially significant” because Missouri has been increasing its patient count, reaching a two-year high in medical marijuana patient applications last month.
“This pro-patient policy clarification,” he said, “now complies with the Missouri Constitution and addresses the concerns we previously articulated on behalf of our medical cannabis customers.”
Cox said the department is prohibited from tracking consumer purchases, “so it is largely up to individuals and dispensaries to ensure they are in compliance with the portion of this rule related to purchases.”
If there is a need to verify an individual’s possession limits, such as with law enforcement, “it is important that patients know the possession limits applicable to them.”
The department, she added, will provide as much guidance as it can to patients and consumers on what is allowed so that they remain within their legal possession limits.