Missouri voters approved legal cannabis twice - first for medical use, then for recreational use in 2022. But as Dave Craig, VP of Marketing for legal cannabis brand From the Earth, explains to host Cara McCormick, an unregulated shadow market is undermining everything voters intended. While legal dispensaries test every product and have already paid $245 million in state taxes to benefit veterans and schools, gas stations and unlicensed dispensaries are selling untested, intoxicating hemp products, some found to be laced with dangerous chemicals. This episode unpacks the loopholes, the need to protect public health, and what happens when following voter-approved rules makes you uncompetitive in your own market.

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Chapters:

00:00:00 - The Unfair Fight Begins

00:01:00 - How Missouri Became a Cannabis Success Story

00:04:10 - The Rise of Unregulated Gas Station Weed

00:06:00 - Farm Bill Loopholes and Dangerous Products

00:09:00 - What Legal Cannabis Testing Really Means

00:15:00 - An Unfair Playing Field for Legal Operators

00:20:00 - Federal Taxes and the Need for Rescheduling

00:23:00 - Lawmakers Struggle to Close the Loophole

00:30:00 - Can Missouri’s Legal Market Survive?

00:39:00 - Fairness, Safety, and What Comes Next