The rain drizzled down Xavier Messiah, as he and his younger brother waited outside Union Station in St. Louis. Donning their black "Deer Owl Family Farms" hoodies — their family's cannabis brand — they stood ready with stacks of business cards outside the MJ Unpacked cannabis conference on Nov. 4.
"Happy Tuesday!" Xavier exclaimed, as he handed everyone he encountered a business card.
"I got that from my father," he later said. "It's a great way to stop them without interrupting their conversations." If they stopped to talk, he'd quickly get his lines in: "I'm Xavier Messiah, and I'm here representing Deer Owl Family Farms. When you're inside, speak to my father, Magnificent Messiah."
Last year, his parents won a microbusiness wholesale license, which will permit their prospective cultivation facility in North St. Louis to grow up to 250 plants once it's up and running.
The microbusiness program was etched in Missouri's constitution when voters approved recreational marijuana in 2022. It's designed to give people who've been harmed by marijuana prohibition the chance to get a foot in Missouri's billion-dollar cannabis industry.
Read more at Missouri Independent