Legalization opponents sue to block Missouri election initiative

A coalition of groups opposed to drug reform efforts has filed a lawsuit to block an initiative to legalize recreational cannabis from voting in Missouri, arguing that the measure didn’t meet constitutional requirements and didn’t meet enough petition signatures have received. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft earlier this month endorsed the initiative that would legalize adult-use marijuana and allow commercial cannabis activities.

John Payne, a spokesman for Legal Missouri, the group supporting the legalization effort, said it is the only initiative that has the public support it needs to garner enough signatures to qualify for the vote.

“This lawsuit is without merit and in less than three months Missouri will become the 20th state to regulate, tax and legalize cannabis,” Payne said.

The lawsuit was filed Aug. 19 on behalf of Joy Sweeney, a resident of Jefferson City, Missouri, who serves as associate director of training, technical assistance and public relations for the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, a coalition of community groups acts to prevent substance use and abuse. The lawsuit is also supported by Protect Our Kids PAC, a Colorado-based super PAC formed earlier this year to oppose drug policy reform efforts.

“The language not only misleads voters about the harms of legalization, it violates state law and the Missouri Constitution,” Luke Niforatos, the CEO of Protect Our Kids PAC, said in a statement. “We hope the courts will rule this matter quickly and protect Missouri’s children from Big Marijuana attacks.”

JoDonn Chaney, a spokesman for the Office of the Missouri Secretary of State, said the office had not been officially served with the lawsuit and could not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit. But he added that the signature totals and certification process “speak for themselves.”

“The individuals responsible for submitting this (initiative petition) met the constitutional requirements as required by law, so Secretary Ashcroft put Amendment 3 to the vote,” Chaney said. “The Secretary has complied with the law and fulfilled his legal duty and stands behind his certification.”

To qualify to vote in Missouri, initiative campaigns must gather enough signatures from registered voters to garner at least 8% of the votes cast in the 2020 gubernatorial election in at least six of the state’s eight congressional districts. Those supporting the lawsuit point out that unofficial tables of petition signatures conducted by local election officials last month showed the campaign fell short by 2,275 signatures. But after supporters of the petition requested a review of the total by the Secretary of State’s office, officials determined the campaign had collected enough signatures, and Ashcroft upheld the petition for the November election on Aug. 9.

The lawsuit alleges that Ashcroft “certified and counted signatures that were crossed out by local election officials, and without that action, the Marijuana Initiative petition would not have had a sufficient number of valid signatures in six out of eight congressional districts.” The lawsuit finds that the signature counts and voter rolls requested under Missouri’s Open Records Law were not provided to the plaintiff.

The lawsuit also alleges that the marijuana legalization initiative fails to meet the requirement that voting measures cover only one issue. Under the Missouri Constitution, initiative petitions amending the state constitution “may contain no more than one amended and revised article of this constitution, or one new article, containing no more than one subject and matters related thereto.”

The court filing the lawsuit claims that the initiative not only legalizes recreational marijuana, but also criminalizes possession of cannabis beyond a legal limit, creates a process for licensing marijuana growers, establishes tax policies, and establishes a new position on cannabis Monitoring licensing “on a preferential basis would establish a basis” and establish a system for overturning previous marijuana convictions.

Under Missouri law, the lawsuit will be brought in court for a timely hearing and determination.

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