Press release
ST. LOUIS – This week, 2,218 Missourians, entrepreneurs, and industry experts converged at St Louis’ historic Union Station over two days to gain perspective on the state’s emerging medical marijuana industry. The first day opened with keynotes from Lyndall Fraker, the new Director of Medical Marijuana at the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), and Michael Correia, Director of Government Affairs for the National Cannabis Industry Association.
“The energy and discussion we’ve seen over the last two days shows the enormous amount of passion there is to ensure Missouri’s medical marijuana program is successful. We think Missouri is on track to have one of the best medical marijuana programs in the entire country,” said Jack Cardetti, spokesman for the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association (MoCannTrade).
The event featured over 50 unique industry panels and in-depth workshops with over 80 speakers from Missouri, 15 other states and Canada. The second day featured an all-female led entrepreneurship panel, “Women in Cannabusiness.” The conference also allowed participants from throughout the entire state the opportunity to network with experienced professionals in the legal cannabis markets and seek potential business partnerships in anticipation of applying for future Missouri-based licenses.
“MoCannBizCon brought together business professionals with diverse skills and expertise necessary to make this a successful, job-creating industry in our state,” said Karin Chester, President of Midwest Cann Expos, the principal organizer of the event. “We were blown away by the amount of interest from people eager to be part of Missouri’s new cannabis industry, and far exceeded the number of attendees we were expecting. People are lining up to learn how they can be a part of this exciting new business.”
DHSS will make applications for patients as well as those wanting to take part in the industry available by June 4. By July 4, the department will begin accepting patient and caregiver applications for patient and caregiver identification cards. Cannabis business applications will be due to the Department in August and final license winners for cultivation, dispensary, extraction and testing facilities will announced by December.
