Missouri activists announced on Thursday that they have launched a campaign to oppose a marijuana legalization initiative that will be on the November ballot, calling on the governor to give lawmakers a chance to enact reform during an upcoming special session.
The “No On Amendment 3—Missouri Deserves Better” campaign is being backed by lawmakers, former Missouri lieutenant governor, legalization advocates and the director of the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, among others.
The coalition has two primary objectives: 1) to urge voters to reject a cannabis legalization initiative that’s already been certified for the November ballot and 2) to convince Gov. Mike Parson (R) to allow legislators to take up marijuana reform as part of a special session that’s set to begin on September 6.
Specifically, Missouri Deserves Better wants the legislature to approve a legalization bill from Rep. Ron Hicks (R), which advanced through the committee process earlier this year but never reached the House floor before the regular session adjourned.
Advocates and lawmakers are generally divided about the best path forward for legalization in the Show-Me State.
Legal Missouri 2022, which is behind the cannabis measure that state officials recently certified for ballot placement, has insisted that they crafted the proposed constitutional amendment in a way that wold provide a level playing field for the industry while still promoting equity by way of expungements, for example.
The initiative is endorsed by a number of advocacy organizations—including ACLU of Missouri and all six active chapters of Missouri NORML.
Adolphus Pruitt, president of St. Louis NAACP, also said in a statement shared with Marijuana Moment that the organization is “proud to support” the ballot initiative due to its “vital and broad criminal justice reforms and expanded economic opportunities for communities that have been harmed by marijuana prohibition.”
Still, organizers have faced their fair share of pushback over certain provisions.
Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove (D), who chairs the state’s Legislative Black Caucus, said on Tuesday that she’s forming her own group called the Impactful Canna Reform Coalition (ICRC) that will work to educate voters about what they view as shortcomings of the certified ballot proposal.
She argued that the initiative lacks holistic provisions to make the cannabis market equitable, unnecessarily adds penalties for certain offenses and falls short of resolving the racial disparities of cannabis criminalization—though she conceded it is likely to be approved by voters.
“Don’t let the capitalism monster exploit you for a temporary good,” Manlove told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Wednesday. “I fully expected this initiative petition to pass—but the point of ICRC is just to let people know what’s in it.”
Rep. Tony Lovasco (R), who sponsored a bill this session to provide seriously ill patients with access to psychedelics, is also against the Legal Missouri 2022 initiative.
“The Missouri Constitution is an inappropriate place for any kind of marijuana possession or use regulation or criminal charges proposed by Amendment 3,” he said in a press release distributed on Thursday by No On Amendment 3. “Rather than settle for an ill-suited and monopolistic program shoehorned into our Constitution, the Missouri General Assembly has a unique opportunity to consider legislation that would legalize cannabis in a truly free market fashion.”
“I urge Governor Parson to expand the upcoming special session so that the legislature can properly implement these important reforms,” he said.
He separately told Riverfront Times that, if voters approve Amendment 3 in November, he intends to introduced legislation to put another constitutional amendment on the ballot during the next election, or earlier if a special election is called, that would fix what he sees as its shortcomings.
“There’s a lot of problems with [the certified measure], and it’s going to be in the Constitution—I’m not good with that,” Lovasco said. “The Constitution should be reserved for restraining governments. The statutes should really be where any regulation or restraints on people come from.”
Rep. Wiley Price (D) argued that “Amendment 3 will corner the market for those already in position and continue a long tradition of predatory behavior on minority and poor communities.”
“Worse, this proposal will continue to punish Missourians for possession, and would put these penalties in our Constitution,” he said in the opposition group press release. “This is extremely tone deaf in a time of criminal justice reform on this particular issue.”
In the lead-up to the state certification of the Legal Missouri 2022 ballot initiative, there were doubts that activists had collected enough signatures in key congressional districts to qualify.
But shortly after the secretary of state’s office verified the signatures, an anti-legalization resident filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court that’s being backed by the Colorado-based Protect Our Kids PAC, arguing that the measure violates the state Constitution and should be removed from the ballot.
The suit asserts that that the initiative “makes multiple substantive changes to the Missouri Constitution that will impact all citizens of Missouri,” and it does so not just by legalizing cannabis but also imposing licensing requirements and facilitating expungements, for example.
Because the measure is multifaceted and not solely proposing to amend the Constitution to end prohibition, the suit says it violates that single subject rule and must be invalidated.
A decision on that case could come as soon as next week, as the current deadline for Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker to issue a ruling is set for September 13.
Former Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R) is supporting the Missouri Deserves Better effort, and he said that the “Amendment 3 campaign is raising and spending millions of dollars to trick Missourians into passing a proposal that would never survive the deliberative and transparent process of the Missouri General Assembly.”
“Conservatives will be outraged by the way this proposal attempts to subvert the will of the people,” he said.
Americans for Prosperity Missouri Director Jeremy Cady added that the legislature “should act to end marijuana prohibition and do so in a manner that adheres to free market principles.”
Here’s what the Legal Missouri 2022 initiative would accomplish:
Adults 21 and older could purchase and possess up to three ounces of cannabis.
They could also grow up to six flowering marijuana plants, six immature plants and six clones if they obtain a registration card.
The initiative would impose a six percent tax on recreational cannabis sales and use revenue to facilitate automatic expungements for people with certain non-violent marijuana offenses on their records.
Remaining revenue would go toward veterans’ healthcare, substance misuse treatment and the state’s public defender system.
The Department of Health and Senior Services would be responsible for regulating the program and issuing licenses for cannabis businesses.
Regulators would be required to issue at least 144 microbusiness licenses through a lottery system, with priority given to low-income applicants and people who have been disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization.
Existing medical marijuana dispensaries would also be first in line to start serving adult consumers with dual licenses.
Regulators could create rules around advertising, but they could not be any more stringent than existing restrictions on alcohol marketing.
Public consumption, driving under the influence of cannabis and underage marijuana use would be explicitly prohibited.
A seed-to-sale tracking system would be established for the marijuana market.
Local jurisdictions would be able to opt out of permitting cannabis microbusinesses or retailers from operating in their area if voters approve the ban at the ballot.
The measure would further codify employment protections for medical cannabis patients.
Medical marijuana cards would be valid for three years at a time, instead of one. And caregivers would be able to serve double the number of patients.
A strong majority of Missouri voters, including a plurality of Republicans, support legalizing marijuana for adult use, a recent poll found.
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Missouri health officials are already taking steps to prepare for voter approval of the legalization measure, and they’re accepting public comment on best practices for implementation.
John Payne, Legal Missouri 2022 campaign manager, previously led a successful ballot effort to legalize medical cannabis in the Show-Me State in 2018.
Supporters of the Hicks bill have argued that the lack of specific language in the initiative prohibiting a licensing cap means the market that emerges will not be competitive. Some have also raised concerns about the measure’s provisions to give medical cannabis dispensaries a head start in serving the adult-use market.
Another Republican lawmaker in the state, Rep. Jason Chipman (R), filed a joint resolution this session that would have allowed voters to require additional oversight over how medical cannabis tax revenue is distributed to veterans.
A different campaign, Fair Access Missouri, separately explored multiple citizen initiatives this year with the hopes of getting at least one on the ballot, but did not end up submitting signatures for any of the measures.
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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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