Politics
Missouri Groups Deliver Signatures For Medical Marijuana Ballot Measures
Medical marijuana legalization got one step closer to making it on Missouri’s November ballot on Friday.
Just two days before the deadline to submit petitions on measures to change state law or amend the state constitution, two groups filed signatures to place competing medical cannabis proposals before voters. A third group turned in signatures for its additional medical marijuana initiative at the last minute on Sunday.
New Approach Missouri delivered more than 370,000 signed petitions to the Missouri Secretary of State. Approximately 168,000 valid signatures are required to qualify for the ballot.
The proposed constitutional amendment would allow doctors to recommend medical cannabis for any condition. Registered patients and caregivers would be allowed to grow up six marijuana plants and purchase up to four ounces from dispensaries per month. Medical cannabis sales at dispensaries would be taxed at four percent.
Find the Cure, an organization promoting a separate proposed constitutional amendment, also turned in signatures in a bid to get on the November ballot on Friday, according to the Associated Press. The group’s measure would let doctors recommend medical marijuana to patients. The retail sales tax on medical marijuana under the Find The Cures Amendment would be set at a much steeper 15 percent, however.
Source: Find the Cures
A proposed statutory change, backed by Missourians for Patient Care, would remove state laws prohibiting the use, possession, cultivation and sale of cannabis. Medical marijuana sales would be taxed at two percent under the proposal.
The group submitted signatures for its petition to the Missouri Secretary of State just ahead of the Sunday deadline, the Associated Press reported. If the signatures are verified and the initiative ultimately qualifies for the November ballot, that could cause complications in November. With two campaigns already confident of having enough support to appear on the ballot, there’s already a risk of splitting votes and jeopardizing any citizen-led petition to legalize medical marijuana in the state.
(A fourth group filed signatures on Sunday in support of a broader measure that would legalize marijuana for adults over 18.)
“All polling has indicated that support for medical marijuana in Missouri is well above 60 percent. Only 50 percent of voters is required in order for this initiative to succeed in amending our state’s Constitution,” Dan Viets, the chair of New Approach Missouri’s board, said in an email. “Although one or possibly two other medical marijuana initiatives may be placed on the ballot, ours will be first among the Constitutional amendments on this topic. If both of the two Constitutional amendment initiatives pass, the one with more votes will prevail.”
The Other Way Missourians Could Have Legal Medical Cannabis
Last month, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill that would legalize medical marijuana for patients suffering from serious medical conditions such as cancer, epilepsy or HIV. It has since been sent to the Senate for consideration, and insiders are confident that it stands a solid chance of passing there, too.
That said, there are only about two weeks left in Missouri’s legislative session, so any delays—including amendments, filibusters, or committee hold-ups—could ultimately back-burner the legislation. (A quick aside on that point: Missouri lawmakers are expected to take up a special session to consider the impeachment of the state’s governor, Eric Greitens, who has been charged with two felonies. The medical marijuana bill could theoretically be taken up during a special session.)
Advocates in Utah have already submitted enough signatures to qualify a medical cannabis measure that state’s November ballot, county clerks said. And elections officials in Michigan ruled last week that activists collected a sufficient amount of signatures to place a full marijuana legalization measure before voters.
UPDATE May 7, 2018 1:34 PST: This story has been updated to reflect that a third group backing a medical marijuana legalization initiative in Missouri turned in signatures before the state’s deadline.
Michigan Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure Has Enough Signatures
