The U.S. is coming up green with most states having some form of legal weed. Missourians have been legally possessing and consuming cannabis since December 2022, and over a year later, the state is becoming a hub of intriguing offerings.
Most public cannabis consumption remains illegal in Missouri. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services prohibits smoking, vaping, eating, or otherwise engaging with cannabis at dispensaries. People getting stoned elsewhere is out of their purview.
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An event or venue must be licensed by relevant law enforcement authorities and localities to allow cannabis consumption. This isn’t legalized at a state level, but the law opens the conversation up to be handled at a local level.
As for private land and buildings, that is technically not public. Subsection five of the legalization law grants local governments the right to approve on-site consumption in designated areas provided the changes don’t counteract the laws (no schools or correctional facilities).
Local entrepreneurs are finding ways to connect people through the plant within the confines of these laws. From BBQ blues music festivals to infused culinary experiences– the Show-Me state is going all in on weed.
The inaugural Buds, Blues & BBQ
Buds, Blues, & BBQ is a festival for the senses that will showcase the greatest pitmasters alongside live music and cannabis activations. The festival comes to Columbia, Missouri, September 13-14th. The coordinators of the Mid-Mo Canna Expo, an annual 420 event, have come together again in this summertime spectacle.
Cannabis and CBD brands will share their work, and expert-led educational seminars hope to enlighten the crowd on the health and wellness benefits of the plant. Hippos, Shangri-La Dispensaries, Grotime, Riverview Living Soils, and 3Fifteen Primo Cannabis will all be in attendance.
This will be coupled with blues, soul, and other rockin’ genres of music, and some of the best BBQ in mid-Missouri. Catch the artisans in four Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned contests to determine the true master of the pit.
Most exciting of all, a portion of ticket sales and event proceeds will go to local nonprofit Welcome Home – A Community for Veterans according to a message sent from the coordinators. The nonprofit is on a mission to end homelessness among veterans and help restore lives forever changed by combat or service.
Buds, Blues, & BBQ hopes this will be the first of many cannabis-themed festivals in its fair state. Catch the fun come September.
Rooted Buds for the sophisticated stoner
Great eats also fuel Missouri cannabis offering Rooted Buds, a Black, LGBTQ+-owned hospitality brand. The family-owned business caters to private fine dining experiences wherever they are called. Rooted Buds founders delight in sharing the elevated side of cannabis with their clients on birthdays, anniversaries, and wherever great food is warranted.
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Rooted Buds will cater a dinner at home or deck out a pop-up restaurant. The company is versatile and dynamic, able to fit its magic into any space. Rooted Buds crafts infused and non-infused course menus customized to consumption levels for tailored experiences for everyone.
As Rooted Buds CEO and chef Snoop Hollins says on their site, “Cannabis is our secret power and we have got to show her off through delicious savory food experiences.”
Cannabis lounges get cozy in gray area
Sitting down in a cannabis social lounge to enjoy a joint, bong rip, or THC seltzer with friends is a beautiful experience since most stoners have been relegated to smoking bowls in their living rooms and garages all their lives. Missouri lounges like La Gasolina, The Cola Lounge, and The TreeHouse Lounge are cropping up in the state.
These spaces operate as members-only clubs in private residences to get past public consumption prohibitions. Missouri lounges may not be going anywhere anytime soon based on current laws. In fact, with these offerings falling into place, the state may become a new bastion of weed tourism.
Missouri and cannabis tourism make a great pair
Cannabis connoisseurs continue the patient wait for viable 420-tourism in the U.S. As new states come online, long-time advocates watch the same worries and community conversations around public consumption, DUIs, and child safety swirl around–but what about the fun stuff.
Few states start out with tourism-friendly regulations. Lounges and public places to smoke weed are rare in regulated states, and infused cuisine at traditional restaurants is basically unheard of.
Those in Missouri cannabis have taken the bull by the horns. Instead of waiting for the tides to turn, these business owners try their luck within the parameters provided. Only time will tell if the tourism tide picks up. Until then, enjoy the good eats and chill lounges.
