Medical marijuana grown in Missouri is now legal; however, it most likely won’t be ready for the rapidly growing patient count waiting to buy it until at least late summer. Despite initial projections, the Department of Health and Senior Services earlier this month approved two of the state’s 60 cultivation sites to begin growing. The growing season will take at least 12 weeks before the plant is ready for patient use.

It’s unsure why the program is being delayed. The state’s director, Lyndall Fraker, said it wasn’t because of his department. The holdup was because of requests for final inspections of facilities to grow, test, and sell cannabis. Some facilities had to halt construction for a while because of the pandemic.

According to the Department of Health and Senior Services, there has been 368 requests so far for initial inspections. The department has inspected 156 facilities and is expected to inspect more as those are not the final inspections.