Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has issued 33 cease-and-desist letters to unlicensed retailers accused of selling cannabis products outside of state laws. The letters were sent to 18 businesses in the St. Louis area, 13 in the Kansas City region, and two near Springfield. The AG alleges that these businesses are selling deceptively marked and unsafe substances, including lead, arsenic, mercury, and ethanol, and no medical use of these products approved by the FDA for medical use. The retailers are accused of violating Missouri's consumer protection laws by marketing products as marijuana despite not complying with state regulations on cannabis sales. The specific rules the dispensaries are alleged to have violated are part of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which covers deceptive labeling, marketing that may appeal to children, and the sale of tainted/contaminated products.