Former Northland man's medical marijuana edibles selling big in Missouri
Zach Romey's products are being sold in over 500 stores in three states
Zach Romey's products are being sold in over 500 stores in three states
Zach Romey's products are being sold in over 500 stores in three states
Zach Romey grew up in the Northland and now his Colorado-based company is a big seller of medical marijuana edibles. And they're selling a lot in Missouri.
In a warehouse-type building, not all that far from where Romey grew up, what he used to make and sell from a rental house kitchen in Denver has now turned into a big business.
"So it really started with making a couple batches, selling those, taking all the money, putting it back and just kind of having a snowball effect," Romey said.
That was 2014. Today, his Robhots brand of medical marijuana gummies are selling and like most everything else in this industry in Missouri, they're selling fast.
"Because I mean, we really are helping people. We've gotten so many people off opiates and other pain medicines and all that stuff," Romey said.
The state says 83,000 Missourians have permission to buy this to help manage pain. Romey's products are being sold in over 500 stores in three states.
Since Missouri voters approved medical marijuana in 2018, 348 licenses have been issued by the state to people growing, making and selling the product.
But one of the bigger problems is marijuana remains a federally prohibited product, meaning people wanting to get into the business can't just walk into a bank and get a loan.
"Yeah because right now, if a bank takes money from someone in the industry right, they have to file a suspicious activity report, even though the Department of Health is licensing them, they're protected under the Missouri Constitution, it's still federally illegal," said Jack Cardetti, a spokesman for an industry trade association in Missouri.
Cardetti believes that may change. As for Romey, one of his biggest challenges right now is demand is way ahead of supply, but he believes that will change, too.