Legalization amendment to be added to the Missouri Constitution

The Missouri state constitution will get a new entry this week, with the voter-approved amendment for recreational cannabis due to be added on Thursday.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that while Amendment 3, passed by Missouri voters in last month’s election, will be included in the state constitution this week, “Missourians will not be affected by the majority of its legislation until next year will be”.

“Recreational marijuana won’t be available until February at the earliest. And while some nonviolent marijuana offenses will be automatically deleted this week, not all will be.”

Missouri voters passed Amendment 3 last month by 53% to 47% of the vote.

The run-up to the vote was surrounded by uncertainty for supporters of the amendment. As recently as August, the Missouri Secretary of State confirmed that Amendment 3 qualified for the vote.

Over the summer there were questions about the petitions filed by Legal Missouri 2022, the group behind the change.

State law requires that a petition must have signatures from 8% of registered voters in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts.

State Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft confirmed in August that Legal Missouri had easily crossed the signing threshold.

“Our statewide coalition of activists, business owners, medical marijuana patients and criminal justice reform advocates worked tirelessly to get to this point and deserves all credit,” Legal Missouri 2022 campaign manager John Payne said in a statement at the time. “Our campaign volunteers collected 100,000 signatures, in addition to paid signature collection. This wave of grassroots support among Missourians who want to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis made all the difference. We look forward to engaging with constituents across the state in the coming weeks and months. Missourians are more than ready to end the senseless and costly marijuana prohibition.”

But even after the change was approved, it seemed far from certain that it would be passed in November. Polls in the weeks leading up to Election Day painted a chaotic picture. A September poll found that 48% of Missouri voters supported Amendment 3, while 35% of state voters opposed it and another 17% were unsure.

But another poll conducted around the same period showed that 43% of respondents supported Amendment 3, while 47% opposed it and 10% were unsure.

In the end, however, the change caught on, and now Missouri is set to become the latest in a growing number of states to legalize adult use of marijuana and establish a regulated retail market.

The Springfield News-Leader provided an overview of what the change will accomplish: “Repeal federal bans on the purchase, possession, consumption, use, supply, manufacture and sale of marijuana for personal use by adults over 21; Require a personal cultivation registration card with prescribed limits; Allow individuals with certain marijuana-related nonviolent crimes to request parole or parole and parole and have records deleted; Setting up a lottery selection process for issuing licenses and certificates; Issue evenly distributed licenses to each congressional district; and impose a 6% tax on the retail price of marijuana to benefit various programs.”

The newspaper said that “earliest recreational marijuana for Missourians ages 21 and older will be available in February 2023.”

“Established medical marijuana facilities will have the option to convert their licenses to comprehensive marijuana facility licenses, meaning they can grow or sell both medical and recreational marijuana. The Department of Health and Elderly Services must begin issuing these license conversions by February 6, 2023,” the news leader reported. “Except for medical marijuana facilities being converted to full-scale marijuana facilities, the DHSS must first license at least two full-scale marijuana dispensaries in each of the state’s eight congressional districts. These dispensaries will be licensed to sell recreational marijuana starting September 4, 2023.”

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