KANSAS CITY, MO — As businesses head into year two of legal marijuana, they hope to continue to capitalize on booming sales.
“Missouri loves their marijuana,” said Michael Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Franklin’s, a marijuana business in Parkville. “This isn’t the way people used to make things in their garage. This looks like an FDA food-regulated facility.”
One year ago, voters approved the legal sale of recreational marijuana in Missouri. That vote created a new market.
“So you had to have a medical card and there was a barrier to entry to buy products in the state of Missouri,” Wilson said. "If we were that big just in medical, we saw where recreational was going to go. Those sales have gone through the roof five times to where they were last year to most of the market.”
With sales at $1 billion statewide, Wilson says the sales tax on marijuana products is low compared with other parts of the country.
Parkville voters Tuesday approved a 3% sales tax on retail recreational marijuana.
With one dispensary in town, Parkville Mayor Dean Katerndahl says that sales tax money will help pay for city projects.
“That’s dedicated to things that we don’t have sources of funds for," Katerndahl said. "Storm water management is at the top of that list."
Wilson says he hopes the products become even more popular in the second year of legal sales.
“As people see that this is far less of a scary product than what we thought it was, you know it’s far more normalized, it’s far more controlled and I think that's more exciting and less scary as we move forward.” Wilson said.
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