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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Missouri’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened final October, a long line of patients waited to step contained in the fresh.green dispensary in Lee’s Summit.
Since then, enterprise has expanded to the Waldo neighborhood in Kansas Metropolis.
“Our affected person checklist, now we have most likely over 10,000 totally different sufferers that now we have served on this time,” mentioned Rob Sullivan, co-owner of recent.inexperienced dispensary.
Sullivan mentioned his personal perceptions of who’s a affected person have modified in his eight months of enterprise.
“Once we opened, I had form of an impression of what I assumed it was going to be, turned out fully totally different,” he mentioned. “We have now a mean age of sufferers within the 50s.”
recent.inexperienced is one of 125 dispensaries operating in the state. Within the months since dispensaries started working, there are greater than 120,000 documented medical marijuana sufferers, and the trade is chargeable for 3,500 jobs, with gross sales surpassing $70 million, in line with MoCannTrade, an affiliation of enterprise homeowners, well being care suppliers, sufferers and residents wanting a compliant medical marijuana program in Missouri.
One one who discovered a job on this budding trade is Logan Schutte, a budtender at recent.inexperienced dispensary.
“With COVID, I truly obtained laid off within the warehouse trade, searched round, discovered them and obtained fortunate and obtained in on right here,” Schutte mentioned.
Schutte mentioned it is an trade with excessive potential for job safety.
“That is the kind of trade that’s going to develop it doesn’t matter what,” he mentioned.
The work, for Schutte, is rewarding. He mentioned he looks like he is serving to sufferers get off opioids and may see the distinction in sufferers who stroll by the door.
“It actually makes them have a brand new outlook on life,” Schutte mentioned. “It makes them extra constructive and capable of see that I don’t need to be in ache all day.”
The trade, in line with MoCannTrade, is predicted to generate almost twice as many roles, and create greater than $800 million in direct spending and one other $570 million in oblique spending over the course of its first full 12 months of gross sales and operation.
In Kansas, lawmakers within the Home handed a medical marijuana invoice to permit the hashish to be bought, however the legislative session ended with out the Senate voting on the invoice.
Legislators are anticipated to take up the measure subsequent session.
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