MOScout Daily Update: MO Life Expectancy Drops - Vaping Under Fire - Pop-Up Pot Doc and more....
MO Life Expectancy Drops
Yikers! From the Post-Dispatch: Missourians’ life expectancy dropped in 2018, fueled by an increase in suicides, overdoses and homicides, according to a report released this month by the state Department of Health and Senior Services… That means Missourians are living 1.6 fewer years than the nation as a whole, according to the report. (The report said the most recent national life expectancy was 78.6 years.)… “(T)he decrease in the life expectancy is more a reflection of increases in death rates among younger persons for external causes such as drug overdoses, suicides and homicides,” according to the report.
What It Means
Between guns and drugs, Missouri’s public policies are having real consequences on the health and mortality of its citizens.
And Vaping Under Fire
President Donald Trump is mulling a ban of some flavors of e-cigarettes. But a backlash is starting to emerge…
Some allies fear the move could cost him votes. See it here.
And Washington Post hails vape stores as a small business engine. See it here.
What It Means
It looks like most of the action will take place in the federal arena. But the big tobacco companies that own the e-cig makers have lobbyists here in Missouri.
Representing Altria (owns Juul): Bardgett and Associates, and Husch Blackwell Strategies.
Representing RAI Services (owns Vuse): Gate Way Group, Gamble & Schlemeier, and Lathrop Gage Consulting.
Kehoe Kicks Off
Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe held his kick off rally yesterday. Governor Mike Parson was on-hand to offer his support.
Because Parson appointed Kehoe, it makes sense that the two will look more like a slate that previous G-LG candidates of the same party have in the past.
Meanwhile
Chugging along every day, checks into the pro-Parson PAC, Uniting Missouri. Again today, three more large checks totaling $70,000. It’s possible that the October fundraising numbers of the candidate committees of Nicole Galloway and Mike Parson – both constrained by limits – will be in the same ballpark. But it looks like the gap between Parson’s PAC and Galloway’s will be a gulf this quarter.
Pop-Up Pot Doc?
Springfield News Leader reports on CannaBus, own “by St. Louis-based Health City MD, a company that puts on traveling pop-up cannabis clinics in rural Missouri towns including Fulton, Rolla and Springfield, among others.” See it here.
In recent months, Health City MD's Cannabus began traveling through the state, charging $125 for physician certifications — the paperwork required by the Missouri Constitution in order to apply for a state-approved medical marijuana card.
In daylong "cannabis clinics," a team of roughly eight Health City MD staffers, helmed by psychiatrist Zinia Thomas, sees hundreds of Missouri patients over the course of eight to 10 hours. In Rolla, a pop-up clinic at a head shop called Peace of Mind recently churned through 300 patients.
"It's a whole phased thing," said Scott Micke, Peace of Mind store owner, who told the News-Leader he leased space to Health City MD for the day. "You fill out her questionnaire, it gets reviewed, then you go to the next step, then you go into a class with Dr. Thomas where she talks about your rights, then there's a congratulations speech and off you go."
Jamie Tillman's Canna Bliss store on Republic Road in Springfield hosted a Health City MD clinic on Monday. "She does the certifications in about 30 to 40 minutes," Tillman told the News-Leader. "They're in and out. It's really pretty simple."
And
Post-Dispatch reports that “Missouri health officials have said they are not monitoring how many medical marijuana patients doctors have certified… While Missouri doctors fill out a form for each patient they certify, Department of Health and Senior Services employees do not place the doctor’s identifying information in a database, said Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the department… ‘I’m sure, as in every other state, that relatively few doctors will be writing the majority of the qualifying letters,’ said Dan Viets, chairman of the Missouri Medical Cannabis Industry Association. ‘That’s because most hospitals and other corporate entities are reluctant to allow doctors to assign qualifying letters.’
In Florida, 7% of doctors certifying patients were responsible for 56% of all certifications issued over a six-month period, according to a draft state report analyzed by the News Service of Florida….”
What It Means
Medical marijuana is a brand new industry here in Missouri. There are going to be entrepreneurs to fill new niches that’s didn’t exist before. One of these will probably be the “pot doc.”
New Committees
Mednax Inc Pac Missouri - Federal Committee was formed. Its treasurer is Gregory Booth.
Don Baragary formed a candidate committee (Friends Of Don Baragary) to run for House 48 as a Republican. The current incumbent, Republican Rep. Dave Muntzel, is termed.
Kim Linhares formed a candidate committee (Friends Of Kim Linhares) to run for House 90 as a Democrat. The current incumbent, Democratic Rep. Deb Lavender, is running for state senate.
Lobbyist Registrations
Gamble & Schlemeier added Center for Hearing & Speech.
Robert Hollis added Broadway Lodging Two LLC.
Miranda Renee Pratt added Humane Society Legislative Fund of the Midwest and its Affiliates.
$5K+Contributions
MO Society of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee - $10,000 from Ozark Anesthesia Associates Inc.
HealthPAC - $6,000 from SWMO Healthcare Committee.
Uniting Missouri PAC - $20,000 from Dairy Farmers of America.
Uniting Missouri PAC - $25,000 from Missouri Soybean Association.
Uniting Missouri PAC - $25,000 from CL PAC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Harry Otto, Kevin Wilson, and Terry Witte.