KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A popular California marijuana retailer soon will be part of five medical marijuana dispensaries opening in the Kansas City area.

The first “From The Earth” shop is getting ready to open at 62nd Street and Troost Avenue in August.

Workers have been busy renovating a former fast food restaurant into a medical marijuana dispensary.

Though the public health emergency has shut down so-called non-essential businesses, marijuana shops are on the essential list in Kansas City.

And the industry has continued to move ahead to begin selling cannabis later this year.

Other Missouri cities, including Springfield, Mo., have shut down marijuana businesses, even CBD oil shops, as non-essential.

In addition to the Troost location, there also will be “From The Earth” shops on Independence Avenue, Southwest Boulevard, Raytown, Mo., and in Independence, Mo.

“We are pretty much on the economic dividing line of Kansas City right here,” said Nate Ruby, president of Onyx 7. “A mile to the west, I think the average income is about $175,000. One mile to the east it’s around $30,000. So I thought this would be a great centralized location to kind of bring together two communities through cannabis.”

If social distancing continues through the summer, Ruby says his dispensary on Troost Avenue will offer delivery service from the first day it opens. The storefront also includes a drive through window for pickup of medical marijuana products.

Ruby says Missouri currently has about 45,000 medical marijuana patients, and has been adding about 1,000 new registrations a week.

All five “From The Earth” dispensaries are scheduled to open by the end of the year to meet the growing demand.