The Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services announced on May 18 that it would be transferring $5 million to the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC). According to a press release, this is the third transfer of funds to the organization, which now totals up to $13,978,820.
Director of Medical Marijuana, Lyndall Fraker, issued a statement about the progress being made for medical patients. “Today, patients are being served by more than 180 dispensary facilities in Missouri—a 20% increase from last fall,” Fraker said. “We are happy to see the veterans served by MVC continue to benefit from these contributions.”
Paul Kirchhoff, Missouri Veterans Commission Executive Director, also praised the continued support. “MVC will use these new funds for increasing support for Missouri veterans and veteran operations across seven facilities statewide,” Kirchhoff said.
Missouri residents voted in favor of adopting Constitutional Amendment 2 in November 2018 (also referred to as Article XIV). “The amendment includes a provision requiring that fees and taxes generated by the medical marijuana program, less operational expenses, be transferred to the MVC for health and care services for military veterans,” a press release describes. “Article XIV states that medical marijuana sold in licensed dispensaries will be taxed at a rate of 4%.”
Sales began in October 2020, and since then more than $335 million has been collected in sales revenue. The Riverfront Times reports that April was an especially lucrative month for medical cannabis sales, with a total of $36.76 million collected throughout the month, and $2.85 million collected on April 20.
The MVC has received nearly $14 million as a result of the medical cannabis program. The first was a sum of $2.1 million in Fall 2020, followed