A company denied licenses to grow medical marijuana in Missouri urged the state Supreme Court last week to compel regulators to provide application info that the health department has argued it’s constitutionally obligated to protect.

At issue is the Department of Health and Senior Services’ refusal to turn over applications of successful license holders, despite being ordered by lower courts to disclose them.

A lawmaker’s proposal to ban warrantless searches based on the odor of marijuana would bring Missouri in line with commonsense drug reform seen in other states. But language of the prefiled bill will need some work when the General Assembly reconvenes next month.

The proposed bill does not differentiate between raw cannabis and the smell of burned marijuana. Just as we are opposed to drinking and driving, we are against any measure that would allow someone to legally operate a motor vehicle under the influence of pot.

Missouri’s cannabis industry continues to attract businesses and create jobs.

A multistate company based in Michigan is opening a cannabis processing facility this month in St. Louis. It is also partnering with another company on a cultivation operation in O’Fallon.

“I think Missouri is a rather competitive market,” said C3 Industries CEO Ankur Rungta.

“We think there is a healthy amount of demand for our products in a market like this.”

C3 Industries already has a foothold in Missouri. The company has opened medical marijuana dispensaries in St. Charles, Columbia, St. Robert, Cape Girardeau and Sunset Hills.

Leaders of a group working to legalize marijuana for adult use in Missouri say they believe the measure will pass if they collect enough signatures to get the issue on next year’s ballot.

Legal Missouri 2022 launched its initiative petition campaign last week in St. Louis. If voters approve the measure, anyone 21 or older could buy marijuana for any reason. Currently Missouri allows marijuana use only for medical reasons. John Payne, campaign manager for Legal Missouri 2022, noted that Missouri residents passed the medical marijuana initiative with close to 66% of the vote in 2018.

The campaign must get about 170,000 valid signatures in six of the state’s eight congressional districts to place the initiative on the ballot.

The remaining three applications were tabled in part due to their proposed dispensary locations falling within 1,000 feet from the Missouri group’s dispensary that’s planned to go inside the Runnings building when the retailer moves.

C3 Industries plans to open the facility in south St. Louis this month

A group of Missourians have launched a campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.

Legal Missouri 2022 is working to get a measure on next year’s ballot to legalize recreational marijuana. At least 18 states, including Illinois, have legalized recreational marijuana.

Medical marijuana is legal in Missouri. Currently, more than 146,000 Missourians have patient or caregiver licenses for medical marijuana.

In some recipes, tripling one ingredient might lead to disaster. But in Honeybee's line of popular Blood Orange Strawberry fruit gumdrops, tripling the THC content — from 100mg to 300mg — has made no difference to the fruit flavors imbued into each drop by chef Dave Owens.

"It's still such a small amount," says Owens, the director of culinary for Proper Brands and its line of Honeybee edibles. "Even with these high-potency versions, we didn't find any real impact so far in the taste or in the consistency."