US-HEALTH-DRUGS-CANNABIS-MISSOURI

Mark Ball, a CPS certified peer specialist, works in the veterans harm reduction area of the Benilde Hall rehabilitation program in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 17, 2023. - Missouri, a largely conservative Midwestern state, is the latest to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. The new regulation, approved by voters in a referendum in November, has sparked an economic boom for the "Show Me" state, fueled by thousands of pot smokers from the eight states on its edges, most of which have not legalized the drug. Across Missouri, cannabis sales in February -- when recreational use was legalized -- totaled $103 million, as compared with $37.2 million the month before, according to the state's health department. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)