Marijuana Legalization Initiative | |||||||||||||
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| Source: Missouri Secretary of State [1] | |||||||||||||
| Elections in Missouri |
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2022 Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3, also known as the Marijuana Legalization Initiative, was a ballot measure to amend the Constitution of Missouri to legalize cannabis at the state level in Missouri. The measure was on the November 7, 2022, general ballot and was approved by voters with a margin of 53–47 percent.
The amendment appeared on the ballot as follows: [2]
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- remove state prohibitions on purchasing, possessing, consuming, using, delivering, manufacturing, and selling marijuana for personal use for adults over the age of twenty-one;
- require a registration card for personal cultivation with prescribed limits;
- allow persons with certain marijuana-related non-violent offenses to petition for release from incarceration or parole and probation and have records expunged;
- establish a lottery selection process to award licenses and certificates;
- issue equally distributed licenses to each congressional district;
- and impose a six percent tax on the retail price of marijuana to benefit various programs?
State governmental entities estimate initial costs of $3.1 million, initial revenues of at least $7.9 million, annual costs of $5.5 million, and annual revenues of at least $40.8 million. Local governments are estimated to have annual costs of at least $35,000 and annual revenues of at least $13.8 million.
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is directed to conduct cannabis licensing and regulation. [3]
The provisions of the amendment would officially go into effect on December 8, 2022. [4]
There has been opposition to the scheme's licensing caps giving an advantage to existing medical dispensary license holders due to existing medical license holders being first in line for recreational licenses, raising questions about "fairness and equity". [5] [6] A competing bill without caps was introduced in the state legislature. It failed after it was amended with two provisions labeled "poison pills", including licensing caps. [7] There has also been opposition due to there not being an automatic expungement of criminal records. [5]
The Protect Our Kids PAC opposed the initiative.
In March 2022, the Missouri ACLU endorsed the initiative. [8]
Amendment 3 was filed with the secretary of state for approval in August 2021, and was qualified for signature gathering on October 6, 2021. [9] [10] The sponsoring organization's campaign manager said on May 4, 2022, that they were "confident" that the number of signatures collected by that date, a few days before the deadline, "provides the necessary cushion to qualify for the ballot". [11] On the May 8 deadline, twice the minimum number of signatures were submitted. [12] On August 9, 2022, The Missouri Secretary of State, Jay Ashcroft, certified the initiative to appear as Amendment 3 on the November ballot. [13] [14] [15]
In August 2022, on the last day of the 10-day challenge period following certification, the prohibitionist organization Protect Our Kids funded a lawsuit to remove the initiative from the November ballot. [16] The lawsuit was dismissed on September 9. [17] The Associated Press used the suit as an example of "pushback against the initiative process [that] is part of a several-year trend that gained steam as groups aligned with the Democratic Party have increasingly used petitions to force public votes on issues that Republican-led legislatures have opposed". [18] On September 13, the deadline for challenges, the state supreme court allowed the initiative to appear on the ballot by refusing to review a lower court's decision to reject an appeal. [19]
In September 2022, lawmakers pushed to have cannabis added to a special session called by Governor Mike Parson, over disagreements with policies outlined in Amendment 3, particularly with licensing. [20] A bill entitled the Marijuana Freedom Act was filed to address these concerns. [21] Despite calling Amendment 3 a "disaster", Governor Parson did not expand the scope of the special session to include cannabis, killing the challenge to Amendment 3. [22] [23]
The amendment was approved by voters on November 8, 2022, by a 53–47% margin. [24] Despite initially saying that recreational sales would begin on February 6, 2023, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services unexpectedly announced on February 2 that licenses would be issued to recreational dispensaries the following day. [25]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes | 1,092,432 | 53.1 |
| No | 965,020 | 46.9 |
| Total votes | 2,057,452 | 100.00 |
In the United States, increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. The first national regulation was the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
In the United States, the use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 38 states, four out of five permanently inhabited U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia, as of March 2023. Ten other states have more restrictive laws limiting THC content, for the purpose of allowing access to products that are rich in cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of cannabis. There is significant variation in medical cannabis laws from state to state, including how it is produced and distributed, how it can be consumed, and what medical conditions it can be used for.
In the United States, the use and possession of cannabis is illegal under federal law by way of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, determined to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, prohibiting its use for any purpose. Despite this policy, most states have passed laws to legalize the use of cannabis for medical purposes, while 24 of 50 states have legalized for recreational use.
The legal history of cannabis in the United States began with state-level prohibition in the early 20th century, with the first major federal limitations occurring in 1937. Starting with Oregon in 1973, individual states began to liberalize cannabis laws through decriminalization. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis, sparking a trend that spread to a majority of states by 2016. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
Cannabis in South Dakota is legal for medical use as of July 1, 2021, having been legalized by a ballot initiative on November 3, 2020. Prior to then, cannabis was fully illegal, with South Dakota being the only U.S. state which outlawed ingestion of controlled substances. Testing positive for cannabis can be a misdemeanor offense. South Dakota would have become the first state in US history to legalize recreational and medical cannabis simultaneously, but an amendment legalizing recreational marijuana that was approved in the same election was struck down as unconstitutional the following February. The challenge claimed the amendment violated Amendment Z, the "Single-Subject Rule". The decision was appealed to the South Dakota Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court's decision on November 24, 2021.
Cannabis in Arkansas is illegal for recreational use. First-time possession of up to four ounces (110 g) is punished with a fine of up to $2,500, imprisonment of up to a year, and a mandatory six month driver's license suspension. Medical use was legalized in 2016 by way of a ballot measure to amend the state constitution.
The Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) was a 2016 voter initiative to legalize cannabis in California. The full name is the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. The initiative passed with 57% voter approval and became law on November 9, 2016, leading to recreational cannabis sales in California by January 2018.
Cannabis in Nevada became legal for recreational use on January 1, 2017, following the passage of Question 2 on the 2016 ballot with 54% of the vote. The first licensed sales of recreational cannabis began on July 1, 2017.
Cannabis in Missouri is legal for recreational use. A ballot initiative to legalize recreational use passed by a 53–47 margin on November 8, 2022. Possession for adults 21 and over became legal on December 8, 2022, with the first licensed sales occurring on February 3, 2023.
Cannabis in Illinois is legal for both medical and recreational use. Illinois became the eleventh state in the US to legalize recreational marijuana effective January 1, 2020.
Cannabis in New Jersey is legal for both medical use and recreational use. An amendment to the state constitution legalizing cannabis became effective on January 1, 2021, and enabling legislation and related bills were signed into law by governor Phil Murphy on February 22, 2021.
Cannabis in Maryland is legal for medical use and recreational use. Possession of up to 1.5 ounces and cultivation of up to 2 plants is legal for adults 21 years of age and older. In 2013, a state law was enacted to establish a state-regulated medical cannabis program. The program, known as the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC) became operational on December 1, 2017.
Cannabis in Florida is illegal for recreational use. Possession of up to 20 grams is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1000, and the suspension of one's driver's license. Several cities and counties have enacted reforms to apply lesser penalties, however.
Cannabis in Ohio is legal for recreational use. Issue 2, a ballot measure to legalize recreational use, passed by a 57–43 margin on November 7, 2023. Possession and personal cultivation of cannabis became legal on December 7, 2023, with the first licensed sales yet to occur under the law. Prior to legalization, Ohio decriminalized possession of up 100 grams in 1975, with several of the state's major cities later enacting further reforms.
The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiative, listed on the ballot as Issue 2, is a ballot initiative for legalization of cannabis in the U.S. state of Ohio that was passed by voters on November 7, 2023.
Oklahoma State Question 820 was a voter initiative to legalize adult purchasing, possession and consumption of cannabis in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It would have placed Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority in charge of business regulation. It appeared on the March 7, 2023 general ballot.
Question 4 was a voter referendum to amend the Constitution of Maryland in order to legalize cannabis for adult use in Maryland. The referendum was approved overwhelmingly, with more than twice as many voters voting in favor of it than against it, on November 8, 2022, and went into effect on July 1, 2023.
Under the Legal MO 2022 proposal, current medical marijuana license holders would get first dibs at recreational marijuana licenses in Missouri, stoking worries of shutting out smaller, less-established operators...The proposal is backed by the state's cannabis trade lobby...
