It’s an unfair playing field, it’s the Wild West, it’s like Kansas City’s wide open days during Prohibition—choose your metaphor. But overall, it’s a dangerous situation for the consumer and a loss of revenue for local and state government.
So say the owners of official marijuana dispensaries in Jackson County and other areas which are licensed to sell medical and recreational cannabis products and charge an additional layer of required taxes. State law says their products must be grown in Missouri, sold only to adults and tested for contaminants.
These owners say they compete unfairly with smoke shops and gas stations that sell similar intoxicating products to customers of any age, including children, due to a loophole in the state’s marijuana laws. And sometimes the smoke shops illegally sell marijuana grown across state borders or from people’s back yards, they contend…