Missouri has become home to a budding medical marijuana industry. And that’s good news for military veterans in the state. Earlier this month, Missouri transferred $2.1 million in revenues from licensing of medical marijuana grow facilities, dispensaries and patients to the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC), which will use the cash to fund services to Missouri residents who have served in the military.
Missourians approved an amendment to the state’s constitution in 2018 authorizing the cultivation, sale and use of medical marijuana. The amendment requires that a portion of revenues collected by the state be earmarked for veteran services. Much of the past two years has been spent establishing regulations, as well as licensing medical marijuana grow facilities, dispensaries and patients. The state also has been busy licensing medical marijuana testing facilities. Now medical marijuana dispensaries are preparing to open to serve medical marijuana patients.
“Facilities are getting up and running now, and the first testing laboratory is on track to be operational very soon,” said Lyndall Fraker, Director of the Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation at the Missouri Department of Health and Senor Services (DHSS). “We are confident that medical marijuana will become available for patients this month, and I am grateful for all of the hard work by so many that got us to this point.”
In a report published on September 18, the DHSS said it has completed the processing of 164 applications for medical marijuana dispensaries seeking to operate in the state, and that 28 additional applications were in process. The state also has approved applications for medical marijuana licenses from nearly 62,000 patients and caregivers.
The $1.3 million transferred to the MVC by DHSS is just a fraction of the total revenues thus far generated by Missouri’s medical marijuana program, which the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports was $19 million in 2019. The money collected has all in the form of licensing fees.
The Missouri Cannabis Trade Association projects sales of medical marijuana in the “Show Me State” will exceed $800 million in the first full year of dispensary operations, and will create more than 5,000 new jobs in the state.
Go Cashless with Paybotic
If your organization is one of the hundreds preparing to open medical marijuana facilities in Missouri, you need a payment processing partner that can support cashless payments. You need Paybotic.
At Paybotic, we make it our business to help cannabis businesses transact business. We do this by working with banks that understand the underwriting process for cannabis products and services, and ensuring compliance and continuity with state-of-the-art payment processing solutions.
Paybotic’s Debit Processing Solutions are the gold standard for electronic payment acceptance at marijuana dispensaries, coast-to-coast.
Debit Processing operates similar to traditional ATMs. A customer with a PIN-authorized credit or debit card presents the card for payment and enters their PIN into PIN pad device. And just as they do when using an ATM, the customer pays a convenience fee, which covers the cost of processing the transaction.
Electronic payments – whether initiated using a plastic card, a mobile device or some other form factor – are what consumers expect from all their shopping experiences; shopping for medical marijuana shouldn’t be any different. Electronic payments also eliminate the risks and overhead associated with cash handling, a major headache and security risk for marijuana dispensaries and their customers. Debit Processing takes the benefit a step further by relieving dispensary owners of costly card processing fees.
Contact Paybotic today and learn how Debit Processing can help your dispensary drive more sales, reduce costs and provide better security for your medical marijuana dispensary and your customers.
