According to the Springfield News Leader on March 19, 2019, it will be a while before actual products including THC will be available to Missouri's Medically-approved Marijuana patients. 
It seems that it will take quite a while for the state to determine who will receive licenses for grow, cultivate and sell and they have had literally hundreds of applications.  And they won't begin reviewing them until August 3, 2018.  Then of course, the seed have to be planted, cared for and ultimately processed and tested for selling.

The state plans of issuing a different number of licenses, depending on which area of marijuana a company is wanting to deal in.  They will, for now, issue 60 cultivations, 86 processing and 192 dispensary licenses. (Missouri Business Daily, APril 29, 2019).

In the meantime, CBD from hemp stores are seemingly everywhere! I have enjoyed touring several in the KC area and have purchased many oils, lotions and even tea! SO far, each route has offered some benefit for me with connective tissue disease pain.  Looking forward to the future!

     One of the questions Cannabis Nurses' hear frequently is whether Medical marijuana can cause side effects

The short answer is...yes.  All drugs taken into or put onto the body will have side effects.  It mainly depends on how severe they are and whether they are threatening.

Marijuana does not cause life-threatening side effects, generally speaking.  
What are the side effects of using marijuana? 

Your heart rate may increase
your rate of breathing and blood pressure may increase.
You may experience dry mouth
You may feel dizzy



https://www.healthline.com/health-news/can-marijuana-kill-you
https://luxury.rehabs.com/marijuana-rehab/side-effects/

Missouri Department of Health and human services (DHSS) continue to put together the rules and regulations that will govern how Cannabis products are regulated.  
This is a very exciting time to be living in the Show-Me-State!
Here are the qualifying conditions if you would like to get a medical marijuana card:

1. Cancer;
2. Epilepsy;
3. Glaucoma;
4. Intractable migraines unresponsive to other treatment;
5. A chronic medical condition that causes severe, persistent pain or persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures, Parkinson’s disease, and Tourette’s syndrome;
6. Debilitating psychiatric disorders, including, but not limited to, post-traumatic stress disorder, if diagnosed by a state licensed psychiatrist;
7. Human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome;
8. A chronic medical condition that is normally treated with a prescription medication that could lead to physical or psychological dependence, when a physician determines that medical use of marijuana could be effective in treating that condition and would serve as a safer alternative to the prescription medication;
9. Any terminal illness; or
10. In the professional judgment of a physician, any other chronic, debilitating or other medical condition, including, but not limited to, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, Huntington’s disease, autism, neuropathies, sickle cell anemia, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, cachexia and wasting syndrome.

Reason #10 is one of the many reasons that I adore our great state!  Other states, including Florida, really limit the doctors in what qualifies for treatment with cannabis.  But, in Missouri, the state (thanks to smart thinking planning on Ammendment 2)  puts faith in our physicians and have allowed a physician to prescribe cannabis/marijuana for any chronic or other condition that they deem would benefit from the treatment!

SOURCE: https://health.mo.gov/safety/medical-marijuana/index.php

I have been an RN for 27 years. For 25 years of my career, I have worked with older adults, mostly ages 80 and up. During my years of caregiving, I have seen the number of opioids that I deliver to our assisted-living residents on a daily basis increase by a 10-fold. (And I'm not kidding!)

Vicodin and Percocet seem to be the drugs that are very popular with this generation of residents. many older adults, in my experience, become dependent upon these drugs without fully understanding what is happening. Sometimes I feel that it is an innocent addiction; as we age and arthritis worsens and personal loss surrounds us. It has become habit for patients to ask their doctors for the strongest thing they can have to help take the pain away.

But what unfolds in front of us is a transition into a downward spiral. I have noticed older adults' personalities literally l change when on these drugs for more than a very short time; demands become unrealistic, family members feel distant and frustrated in their communication. My observation is that the older person taking narcotics routinely tends to stay more to him or herself; they lose interest in daily living. They start watching the clock to see when the next dose may be coming.

In my experience, many health care providers feel that, because we are dealing with the old, they should have anything they want. Addiction, it often seems, isn't even be a consideration.

But it should be. Of course, no person, old or young should be in chronic pain. But there are non-narcotic options that have been hidden from us by big pharma; in much the way that cigarettes were marketed for decades.1

According to medpagetoday.com, medical cannabis can reduce many symptoms and reduce opioid use in older adults by one-third. I can't help but think...what if they never started opioids to begin with?


1.
​https://theweedblog.com/advocacy/what-government-and-big-pharma-don-t-want-you-to-know-about-cannabis

2. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/aan/78289