Missouri's adult-use cannabis program (Const. Art. XIV, §2 and Mo. Rev. Stat. 195.005+) requires dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from schools, daycares, and churches, but allows local governments to reduce that distance by ordinance. Kansas City has used this option in some districts.
Under Missouri Constitution Article XIV §2 and the implementing rules of the Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR), licensed marijuana facilities must be located at least 1,000 feet from any then-existing elementary or secondary school, child daycare, or church. Local governments may reduce this distance through ordinance and Kansas City has done so in select commercial corridors via Chapter 88 zoning amendments to support equitable dispensary siting. Buffer measurement is property line to property line, not door to door. The DCR confirms the buffer at the time the facility license is issued; later-arriving schools or daycares do not displace existing dispensaries.
Operating a marijuana facility inside the buffer without a valid local-reduction ordinance can result in DCR license denial, revocation, and Chapter 88 zoning enforcement orders requiring the facility to close.
See how Kansas City's buffer zones rules stack up against other locations.
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