Missouri marijuana legalization measure officially approved for November elections

Through Johanna Skopl

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft issued a certificate of sufficiency to the Legal Missouri 2022 campaign and officially put the adult legalization initiative on the November vote.

“I encourage Missouri residents to be informed and educated about any voting initiative,” Ashcroft said in a press release. “The 2022-059 initiative, which voters will see when they vote in November, is particularly lengthy and should be carefully considered.”

The Legal Missouri 2022 initiative, which would expand the current medical marijuana business program by allowing existing licensees to serve both medical and non-medical buyers, garnered enough signatures in all eight congressional districts to vote on Nov. 8 to go.

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Recreational marijuana and auto-delete

Alan Zagier, a spokesman for Legal Missouri 2022, told Benzinga, “We are very confident that we will make the choice.”

Legal Missouri 2022 campaign manager John Payne was also confident the initiative would make the choice. “Having submitted nearly 400,000 signatures from Missourians seeking to become the 20th state to regulate, tax and legalize cannabis, we are confident of our participation in November’s election.”

RELATED: Missouri minorities fear being left out of potential state cannabis market

Under the proposed change, Missourians over the age of 21 will be permitted to possess, use, purchase and grow marijuana. A six percent sales tax would be levied on the products, which could fetch up to an estimated $40 million. This revenue would be used for extinction expenses, veterans services, drug addict treatment, and the public defender system.

RELATED: Missouri is stuck on legalizing adult-use cannabis

The proposed measure would allow adults to own (up to three ounces), purchase (from licensed retailers) and grow (up to six flowering plants, six immature plants and six clones) limited amounts of cannabis. It also sets up a program to automatically screen and delete people with criminal records for nonviolent marijuana-related crimes related to marijuana.

If the initiative passes in November, Missouri would become the first state to set a precedent for voters to initiate automatic overturning of previous marijuana convictions.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.