Richard Gunnels used to be skeptical of marijuana, and he didn’t think it should be legalized for medical purposes.
Gunnels is a small-town Missouri row-crop farmer, and some of the land he grows on today has been farmed by his family for over 120 years in Macon County. He grew up on that farm, which has been cultivated by his family for generations.
It was an uncle in Florida who changed his mind about medical cannabis. The uncle suffers from tremors, and he showed Gunnels how medical marijuana helped his condition. Now, the Missouri farmer oversees a medical marijuana operation in Macon’s industrial park.
“I’m always trying to help people out and do things for people to make their life better,” Gunnels said. “And this really fit in with the things that I like to do with agriculture and really fit into my interests.”
Missouri’s medical marijuana economy surpassed $400 million in sales this July. The total dates back to the state’s first sale in October 2020. The industry has been averaging around $30 million each month in sales since November 2021, said Lyndall Fraker, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ director of medical marijuana regulation.
One company, Flora Farms, ended up with a cultivation facility in Humansville due to that rule, said Mark Hendren, president of Flora Farms. The group’s facility in the town of 907…
