St. Louis-based BeLeaf Medical became the first medical cannabis cultivator in Missouri to launch operations June 11, and as a vertically integrated company with 10 total licenses in the state, President Kevin Riggs says there is much more to come.

BeLeaf’s Sinse cultivation facility in St. Louis County was the first grow operation to receive approval from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services after passing all required inspections. The company holds a total of three cultivation licenses, two manufacturing licenses and five dispensary licenses in the greater St. Louis area.

Photos courtesy of BeLeaf Medical

The team behind BeLeaf held a license from the Missouri Department of Agriculture for the past five years to grow industrial hemp for CBD, which makes for a natural transition to the medical cannabis industry, Riggs says.

“We’re very blessed and comfortable to be able to win the ten licenses when those were announced in December and January of this year,” he tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “The first one’s out of the box with more to come.”

The company’s five-year head start as a CBD company has allowed it to build a talented team, which Riggs says is BeLeaf’s strongest asset in Missouri’s nascent medical cannabis market.

“Our group of owners [has] a very deep business background as well as a cannabis business background, so we feel very comfortable that we’ll be able to ensure that our products and our business model [are] successful,” he says.

Overall, Riggs says he is pleased with Amendment 2, the initiative voters passed in 2018 to legalize medical cannabis in the state.

“It’s very friendly to the business community, it’s very friendly to the consumption community [and] it’s also very friendly toward home growers,” he says. “I think it’s a really nice amalgamation of different things that have worked in other states, so I’m very pleased with that.”

BeLeaf's five-year head start as a CBD company has allowed it to build a talented team, which Riggs says is the company's strongest asset in Missouri’s nascent medical cannabis market.

Missouri’s patient count has been on a steady climb, and Riggs hopes the number of registered patients will reach 100,000 by the time sales launch, which he estimates will be in about 90 days, when the state has its first cannabis harvest and product is distributed to dispensaries.

BeLeaf plans to open its first dispensary in St. Peters under the Swade brand, and Missouri’s medical cannabis law allows licensed cultivators, manufacturers and dispensaries to buy and sell product within the supply chain.

One of the biggest unanswered questions, Riggs says, is what sales trends will look like in the early days of the market and how these trends will evolve as the market matures.

As more cultivators receive approval to operate and begin ramping up production, the market will need time to find its footing, Riggs says, and he expects it to be at least a year before supply and demand find their balance.

“I think we’re looking [at] probably a one-year maturation where, at that point, all of the licensees should be up and running [and] people will familiarize themselves with the brands and the locations and the people that they want to do business with,” he says. “I think in a year, that’s when you’re going to start to see answers to some of those questions.”

Another big question mark right now, Riggs adds, is the COVID-19 pandemic. When the coronavirus crisis first reached the U.S. earlier this spring, the BeLeaf team was focused on fundraising and building out its cultivation facility, which were unique challenges in the wake of an unprecedented pandemic.

“None of it qualified for the paycheck protection plan,” Riggs says. “There are a lot of things that the cannabis industry has had to overcome and has to deal with because of the federal laws that we’re all living under.”

Still, these unique obstacles have kept the BeLeaf team nimble, allowing them to adapt to everchanging regulations and challenges, which Riggs says will ultimately serve the business well as it continues building out its operations in Missouri.

“You almost have to assume that whatever business model and whatever plans you have, that you leave enough opportunity to be flexible moving forward."

This week, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a bill into law that allows doctors to recommend medical cannabis for any condition, thus drastically expanding patient access in the state. Elsewhere, in New Jersey, the Assembly passed a cannabis decriminalization bill, sending it to the Senate, where lawmakers have introduced their own decriminalization measure.

Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.

• Federal: Charlotte’s Web has completed its acquisition of Abacus Health Products, a producer of over-the-counter topical products that combine active pharmaceutical ingredients with hemp extract. The deal gives Charlotte’s Web distribution through more than 21,000 retailers. Read more
• Arkansas: The state’s medical cannabis sales are nearing $100 million since the market opened in May 2019. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration reported that the state’s 22 dispensaries have sold 14,714 pounds of product, totaling just over $92 million in sales. Read more
• Louisiana: Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed a medical cannabis expansion bill into law that allows doctors to recommend medical cannabis to patients with any condition. With Bel Edwards’ signature, the new law takes effect Aug. 1. Read more
• Missouri: St. Louis-based BeLeaf Medical LLC has opened its first cultivation center—and the first medical cannabis cultivation facility in Missouri—in Earth City. BeLeaf holds 10 medical cannabis business licenses in the state, including three for cultivation, two for manufacturing and five for retail, and the company’s first cultivation facility will operate under the Sinse brand name. Read more
• Michigan: The state’s weekly adult-use cannabis sales have surpassed the state’s medical sales for the first time. Adult-use and medical sales have been on an upward climb since Michigan launched its recreational market in December; weekly adult-use sales are up more than 800%, while weekly medical sales have nearly doubled. Read more
• North Dakota: Legalize ND, a campaign that originally hoped to qualify an adult-use cannabis legalization initiative for North Dakota’s 2020 ballot, has refocused its efforts on 2022. With only about 5,500 of the required 13,500 valid signatures in hand and the coronavirus crisis putting pressure on the campaign’s efforts, the group is now petitioning until December to qualify its measure for the 2022 ballot. Read more
• Nevada: In a unanimous vote this week, the Nevada State Board of Pardons Commissioners approved an amended resolution put forth by Gov. Steve Sisolak to pardon low-level cannabis convictions in the state. The resolution pardons those previously convicted of the possession of one ounce or less of cannabis, and the Secretary of the Board of Pardons has been charged with creating an expedited process for those seeking pardons. Read more
• Maine: After reaching a settlement with Maine last month in a dispute over a residency requirement included in the state’s cannabis law, cannabis operator Wellness Connection of Maine has filed a new lawsuit against Portland, which has included in its cannabis ordinance a residency bonus for license applicants who have lived in Maine for at least four years. Wellness Connection, which operates dispensaries in Portland, Brewer, South Portland and Gardiner, along with its Delaware-based investor, High Street Capital Partners, filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court June 15, alleging that Portland’s cannabis ordinance is “unconstitutional” and “discriminatory” to non-local businesses. Read more
• New Jersey: The New Jersey Assembly passed a cannabis decriminalization bill this week that would reduce the penalty for the possession, manufacture and distribution of up to two ounces of cannabis to a $50 civil fine. Lawmakers in the Senate have introduced a broader decriminalization measure, S.B. 2535, which would reduce the penalty for cannabis possession of up to one pound to a written warning and a $25 fine for subsequent offenses. Read more
• Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Supreme court ruled this week that Lebanon County cannot prohibit parolees from using medical cannabis. The county had instituted a policy that barred patients enrolled in Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program from using cannabis while on probation, arguing that cannabis remains illegal under federal law, but the court ultimately ruled that parolees with valid medical cannabis cards cannot be punished, as they are immune under the state’s medical marijuana law. Read more