It has been a long time coming, and the state along with St Louis City Chapter of NAACP are both ready to take the measures to get marijuana legal in Missouri. Please take a look at the following amendment.

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to: repeal all current medical marijuana (cannabis) provisions;remove state prohibitions on possession, consumption, cultivation, and sale of marijuana for personal or medical use, regardless of age;legally allow driving under the influence of marijuana;release all individuals from incarceration, parole and probation from any conviction for a nonviolent marijuana-related crime;remove state prohibitions on cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of marijuana;destroy all state civil and criminal records of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes;prohibit Missouri assisting enforcement of federal marijuana offenses; andprohibit the taxation of physician-recommended medical marijuana? State governmental entities estimate savings of at least $2 million annually and an annual impact to revenues ranging from a $12 million decrease to a $22 million increase by 2028. Local governmental entities are estimated to have revenue increases ranging from $4 million to $26 million annually by 2028.[2]

Legalization in the U.S.

See also: Marijuana laws in the United States and History of marijuana on the ballot

California Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana, appeared on the ballot in 2010. It was defeated, with 53.5 percent of voters casting “no” votes.[3] U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder commented on Proposition 19, saying President Barack Obama’s (D) administration would “vigorously enforce the (Controlled Substances Act) against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law.”[4]

In 2012, legalized recreational marijuana advocates saw their first statewide victories in Colorado and Washington. Two years later, voters in OregonAlaska, and Washington, D.C. approved marijuana legalization. Regarding how the federal government would respond, President Obama stated, “We’ve got bigger fish to fry. It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal.”[5]

In 2015, voters in Ohio defeated Issue 3, which was designed to legalize the sale and use of marijuana and authorize 10 facilities with exclusive commercial rights to grow marijuana.[6]

ArizonaCaliforniaMaineMassachusetts, and Nevada all had marijuana legalization initiatives on their 2016 general election ballots. The initiatives passed in all of the states but Arizona, where voters rejected the measure 51.3 to 48.7 percent.[7]

Michigan became the first state in the Midwest to legalize marijuana after voters approved Proposal 1 in 2018.[8] North Dakota Measure 3, which was also on the ballot in 2018, would have legalized marijuana but was defeated.[9]

As of 2019, two states—Illinois and Vermont—had legalized the recreational use of marijuana through the legislative process and governor’s signature.[10][11]

The following map depicts the legal status of recreational marijuana in different states:

Process in Missouri

In Missouri, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election in six of the eight state congressional districts. Signatures must be filed with the secretary of state six months prior to the election.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2022 ballot:

  • Signatures: The smallest possible requirement is 160,199 valid signatures.[12] The actual requirement depends on the congressional districts in which signatures are collected.
  • Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures is May 8, 2022.

Once the signatures have been filed with the secretary of state, the secretary copies the petition sheets and transmits them to county election authorities for verification. The secretary of state may choose whether the signatures are to be verified by a 5 percent random sample or full verification. If the random sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If more than 110 percent, the initiative is certified, and, if less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.

Stages of this initiative

Mark Pedersen filed the ballot initiative on March 23, 2020. On May 5, 2021, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) cleared the initiative for signature gathering

Sign now: https://www.legalmo22.com/

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Senior Editor, Digital Manager, Blogger, has been nominated for awards several times as Publisher and Author over the years. Has been with company for almost three years and is a current native St. Louisan.

The Newsletter 05

Senior Editor, Digital Manager, Blogger, has been nominated for awards several times as Publisher and Author over the years. Has been with company for almost three years and is a current native St. Louisan.

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