Missouri Regulators Move To Clarify Medical Marijuana Patients’ Purchasing Limits

*“It is largely up to individuals and dispensaries to ensure they are in
compliance with the portion of this rule related to purchases.”*

*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 December 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.

*This story was first published by Missouri Independent.*

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Purchasing Limits appeared first on Marijuana Moment.