Even with the state allowing the minimum number of license for growers of medical marijuana, early supply could outstrip demand, according to University of Missouri economists.

A study by the economists estimates that there will be 19,000 people in Missouri qualified to purchase medical marijuana in 2020. That would require 5,000 to 7,000 pounds of canaibis — an amount that could be produced by between 10 and 14 cultivators. Those number would increase to roughly 26,000 patients and demand for between 24 and 29 cultivators in 2022.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has said it will issue 60 licenses for cultivators. 

The Missouri Department of Transportation announced on Monday the state’s law enforcement officers will be out in full force this weekend, patrolling for drivers who are high after celebrating the 420 holiday.

Missouri’s health department does not plan to give minority-owned businesses a boost when deciding who gets licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana — a measure some black Kansas City residents believe would help ensure equal opportunity.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said this week the license applications will be stripped of all identifying information about the owners, including their race, during the selection process.

Missouri plans to license more than 300 medical marijuana-related businesses this year, and if that's not enough to meet patient demand, even more will be approved, the director of the state program said Monday.

The state is already planning at least 192 dispensaries, 60 cultivation facilities, 86 manufacturing facilities and two testing facilities. But Lyndall Fraker, medical marijuana program director for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, told hundreds of people attending a St. Louis conference that the state will do whatever is necessary to meet demand.

"We certainly want to make sure patient needs are provided for," Fraker said.

Missouri’s health department has already fielded more than 400 pre-applications from potential marijuana growers and sellers.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which will administer the state’s medical marijuana program, won’t begin accepting formal applications for dispensaries, cultivation facilities and manufacturing plants until summer.

That hasn’t stopped potential businesses from paying more than $3 million in application fees to the state.

You work hard for your money, and when you put it in the bank you expect it to stay there.

But what if your bank shut down your account with little to no warning? That's what a technology firm in historic downtown St. Charles says recently happened to them.

Jay Lindberg, the founder of Cangea, says he got a letter from First State Bank informing him his checking account was being closed. The company's ties to the marijuana industry are to blame.

"We're a technology company. We don't touch the plant. We were still denied a bank account," he told 5 On Your Side.

The move left with some pressing questions he had to scramble to find answers for immediately. "How do you pay employees? How do you pay rent? How do you pay vendors," Lindberg said

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell will no longer prosecute cases for possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana. The new policy first came to light in an internal memo to prosecutors and staff from Bell regarding changes in prosecutorial policy. It was leaked to reporters during Bell’s first week in office. Bell was sworn in as St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney on January 1 after being elected to the position in November.

Although Bell said in a Facebook post after the memo’s release that the changes had not yet been finalized, in an email to local media, his chief of staff Sam Alton wrote that the new policy has already been enacted.

The United States’ thriving obsession with CBD-infused coffee products has resulted in another product launch, this time in the American heartland. The Roasterie, a Kansas City company, announced on Monday that it is retailing a canned cold brew with 10 milligrams of CBD.