The fine print in Missouri’s marijuana amendment

By Jason Hancock | Editor-in-Chief

Good morning,

Missouri voters approved a marijuana legalization amendment in 2022 that kept a 10% cap meant to prevent any one company from owning too much of the dispensary market.

But one key phrase from the state’s medical marijuana law disappeared with little public attention: language barring “substantial common control” or “management.”

Today’s lead story shows why that mattered. Good Day Farm, the Arkansas company that was the top donor to Missouri’s legalization campaign, is now tied through ownership records, management structures and acquisition agreements to more than a quarter of Missouri dispensary licenses.

Elsewhere, a sweeping public safety bill is headed to Gov. Mike Kehoe, an appeals court rewrote the ballot summary for a referendum on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map and lawmakers voted to create a state board to give high school athletes and coaches a chance to appeal decisions on eligibility.

by Rebecca Rivas and Julia Garrison

Records reviewed by The Independent show how Good Day Farm’s Missouri footprint grew through LLCs, management structures and acquisition arrangements now at the center of a new antitrust lawsuit.

by Steph Quinn

A sweeping public safety bill is headed to Gov. Mike Kehoe after lawmakers used it to address disputed sentencing language and add measures on mental health treatment, cyberstalking and victim protection.

by Jason Hancock

A Missouri appeals court ruled Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ description still included unsupported claims about the gerrymandered congressional map approved by lawmakers last year.

by Annelise Hanshaw

The legislation calls for a five-member board appointed by the governor and located within the state’s education department to give high school athletes and coaches a chance to appeal decisions on eligibility.

by Josh Merchant

The Royals’ proposed Crown Center stadium comes with a $1.9 billion price tag — and, so far, few public details explaining what would make it one of baseball’s costliest ballparks.

by Abigail Didonna

A Senate committee advanced legislation creating a new crime for threatening or harassing someone while hiding their identity, while carving out exceptions for health, religion, weather and other lawful uses of masks.

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