Major Crime Turned Microbusiness: Missouri’s cannabis microbusiness program allows Jimi Poe to capitalize off of his previous conviction

Photo Courtesy of Jimi Poe

20 years ago, life looked a lot different for Jimi Poe. He was 20 years old. He had just graduated from Park Hill High School. But one thing hasn’t changed: He still sells weed.

In 2006, Poe was arrested for the distribution of marijuana in Kansas. He was convicted in January 2007. For the next 12 months, he spent every day and night in a correctional facility, then served a year of parole.

Now, he still sells weed—only legally. Poe is the owner of 816 Dispensary—a microbusiness dispensary located in Platte City. Due to Missouri’s cannabis legal framework, disadvantaged folks have a path to owning a cannabis business outside of the comprehensive licenses that are held by large players who already make up the industry.

In order to be eligible for a microbusiness license, applicants must meet one of the five following criteria: have a net worth under $250,000; have disabled veterans status; have been convicted for a nonviolent marijuana felony; reside in a low income zip code; or have graduated from an unaccredited school.

When he realized that his 2007 marijuana conviction made him eligible for the license, he submitted one application. Luckily enough, among the 1,600 applications sent in—including hundreds submitted by the same investors or consultants—Poe was a winner.

But the same cannot be said for many of the applicants, as well as those who obtained the certification only for it to go to the wayside when the Department of Health and Senior Services Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) revoked 25 of the 32 second round licenses in April, resulting in 34 revocations of the 96 total licensees awarded between the first and second round lotteries.

Photo Courtesy of Jimi Poe

With 816 Dispensary’s doors finally opened, the department can breathe a slight sigh of relief, considering all of the hang ups that the program has endured. DCR Chief Equity Officer Lesley Turek hopes that Poe and his business can be the poster boy for how to get a microbusiness to reach commencement.

“I think Jimi is the trailblazer for everybody else, showing them it can work,” she says. “This can happen, but everybody has to work together, and everybody has to be on board and in the same direction.”

She says that 10 microbusiness licenses have been approved to operate, the majority of which are wholesalers.

Poe understands that to be one of the 48 first round winners among the 1,600 applicants may be the result of good karma.

“I am super lucky to win the license,” he says.

But what he also realizes is that everything outside of the announcement declaring him a winner has come from his hard work and dedication. It’s not easy to open any business, let alone the first dispensary of its kind in a newly established industry.

“I have put in a ton of fucking work to get us to where we are today,” Poe says. “I don’t feel like I’m lucky there; I feel like that was determination.”

Turek, who oversees the microbusiness program and has worked with Poe as he transitioned from winning the license to reaching commencement, says that she is glad to see his patience and labor pay off.

“Jimi has been amazing to work with,” Turek says. “He is committed to the program. He was determined to be the first dispensary open. “I just admire him so much because he’s really bootstrapped his way all the way through and has really worked so hard.”

Taking into account that microbusinesses have been designed to give disadvantaged individuals a path to owning a small business, Turek says that Poe is a prime representation of what the department hopes to achieve with the program.

“He was in some trouble earlier, and things can turn around, and things can make a difference,” she says. “I think that this program itself is a wonderful opportunity for anybody who’s interested, not only in being in the cannabis industry, but finding a way to give themselves an opportunity to do something that maybe they’ve never thought they could do.”

Determination and persistence is key for Poe when it comes to navigating his new business, and, unfortunately for him, there is no blueprint or handbook for him to refer to for advice. What there is, however, is a strict set of guidelines that come with operating any cannabis facility.

“There’s no manual to this, so we’re trying to do everything by the rules that they have written out there,” he says.

Photo Courtesy of Jimi Poe

Regardless of whether he did not have a mentor or guide to look back on, Poe was not going to let his dream of owning a dispensary diminish. As far as entrepreneurial expertise goes, Poe has that side of the coin down.

After his release from prison in the late 2000s, he got a job in communications through his mother-in-law. After some years working in the field, he took out a second mortgage on his home and started his own communications company Prime Time Integraters with his brother. Within the first 90 days of starting the company, Poe had obtained major commercial retailers, such as Price Chopper, Sun Fresh, Hen House, and Westlake Hardware.

He and his brother ran the family business for several years before the opportunity to own a cannabis company presented itself in 2023. With Prime Time Integraters overseeing 200 businesses’ communications systems, he sold all of his assets to fund his new venture. After finding a location in Platte City, he and his team got to work.

What was once a liquor store was completely gutted and renovated. Leaning on his background in installing communication equipment, Poe completed the business’ entire setup.

Now, at 2701 Running Horse Rd. sits 816 Dispensary—the very first microbusiness dispensary to open doors to the public in Missouri.

“When we won the licenses, I wanted to be the very first person to sell the microbusiness cannabis to the public,” Poe says.

Poe accomplished that goal, as the dispensary made its first sale on June 12 of this year. But don’t be fooled; Poe’s Platte City establishment looks a lot different than your typical dispensary.

Considering that microbusinesses across the state have just recently begun to reach commencement, the microbusiness wholesalers have very little biomass, similar to cultivation facilities in the early stages of medical marijuana in the state. This makes Poe’s menu very limited, to say the least.

As of right now, he only carries six different strains of flower—all from microbusiness wholesaler Blüme—and four types of pre-rolls from Blüme and other wholesaler Smuggler’s Din. This is just a drop in the bucket in comparison to what a comprehensive dispensary has on hand.

The trade-off with having less product at a slightly raised price, Poe says, is the quality of the cannabis. Microbusiness wholesalers are limited to growing only 250 plants at a time, whereas comprehensive licensees have up to 30,000 square feet to toy around with, yielding thousands of plants. In turn, the small batches make for a more thorough grow and trim, which can lead to higher-quality buds.

“I really want to give people quality, not quantity,” Poe says. “I’m not trying to push out a bunch of quantity—I’m trying to push out quality.”

Photo Courtesy of Jimi Poe

With the current limitations, that is all he can do. But Poe says that will soon change as the microbusiness wholesalers continue to get their feet under them and produce not only more flower, but vape cartridges, edibles, and concentrates—a time he obviously looks forward to.

“Once we start getting those carts and edibles, I feel like this place is going to take off,” he says.

He says that consumers can expect microbusiness edibles and vape cartridges sometime between the end of October and early December—just in time for the holidays. And once the products hit shelves, Poe says he will be quick to let the public know.

“We’re going to blast out a text and an email letting everybody know, ‘Hey, we got these products. Come on and check us out,’” he says.

Other than having limited product on hand, Poe and his team face another obstacle: making consumers aware that 816 Dispensary is not yet another hemp shop in town.

“I tell them, ‘How do you know when you’re in a licensed facility, compared to a hemp shop? The license is right there in the waiting room, and they check your ID before you walk through the door,” he says.

Once individuals are inside the brick-and-mortar’s four walls, Poe and his family-run team are quick to educate customers on the business and the microbusiness program as a whole. Close connection to his consumers is the name of the game in these early stages, spending plenty of time at the establishment.

“I don’t think there’s any other dispensary in town where the owner is out there being your bud tender.”

But when it comes to cannabis, Poe doesn’t know it all, and he recognizes that. That’s why he says that he has one certified ganjier—a weed sommelier—on staff and another on their way to obtaining the certification. Part of becoming a certified ganjier means that one must go through various tests, examining cannabis and grading it on a scale. Poe says that once more flower is available, access to his certified ganjier’s scores will be accessible to consumers, allowing them to make judgments based on an expert’s criteria.

“Once we get a little more product in, you’ll be able to come in, hit that QR code on his scorecard, and it will tell you what he is scoring the flower at, tastes, terpenes, highs,” he says.

His next steps go hand in hand with getting more marijuana in the store: constructing a drive-thru. After it was approved by the city, he says that he is now working on constructing a more convenient way for cannabis users to get their fix.

The bottom line for Poe is to sell top-shelf cannabis in the town that he cherishes dearly. That’s why he easily landed on 816 Dispensary as the name for his business.

“I’m literally bred here. It’s in my blood, and I love that we created our brand around what I’ve been around my whole life.”

Jimi Poe and 816 Dispensary are proof that the microbusiness program can at least get up and running. After all of the drama that has plagued the sector of the cannabis industry since its inception, seeing a microbusiness dispensary come to fruition has to be a breath of fresh air for the DCR. And for Kansas Citians, a sense of hope that, despite past mistakes, one can still grasp whatever may be left of an ‘American dream’ and run a small business in the town that you know and love.