Missouri will vote on legalizing marijuana in November

After a thrill of gathering signatures, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced today, August 9, that the Show-Me State will vote on whether to legalize adult-use marijuana this November.

Advocates had been left in the dark as state officials counted and validated the signatures collected by the Legal Missouri group.

Though the group collected almost twice as many raw signatures as required by law — over 385,000 — there was an additional threshold to cross: Every Missouri campaign must collect a number of signatures equal to at least 8% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election of the state (one election for governor) … in at least six of the state’s eight congressional districts.

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For weeks, Legal Missouri appeared to have missed the mark in two of the six required counties. But as Ashcroft confirmed today, they had indeed prevailed.

“Our campaign volunteers collected 100,000 signatures in addition to paid signature collection,” Legal Missouri campaign manager John Payne said in a statement. “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,” he said. “Missourians are more than ready to end the senseless and costly marijuana prohibition.”

These are some of the provisions included in the legalization measure:

  • Residents can purchase and possess up to three ounces of cannabis.
  • Residents can also grow six mature plants and six immature plants at home if they receive a registration card to do so. You can also own six clones.
  • The measure provides for automatic quashing of cannabis convictions for non-violent offenders.
  • Adult sales are subject to a 6% cannabis excise tax.
  • Cannabis tax revenues are used to fund “veterans’ health care, drug addiction treatment, and Missouri’s underfunded public defense system.”
  • Medical patients can renew their card every three years (currently patients are required to renew annually).
  • Local governments may levy an additional 3% excise tax on cannabis purchases.
  • The measure requires at least 144 new small-business cannabis licenses to be selected by lottery.
  • The proposal allows counties to opt out of legally regulated sales, but only by a popular vote.

State officials estimate that excise taxes on adult cannabis use could generate at least $41 million in tax revenue each year.

“I encourage Missouri residents to be informed and educated about any voting initiative,” Ashcroft said in a press release. “[The legalization initiative] that voters will see in the November vote is particularly lengthy and should be carefully considered.”

Max Savage Levenson

Max Savage Levenson probably has the lowest cannabis tolerance of any author on the cannabis beat. He also writes about music for Pitchfork, Bandcamp and other bespectacled people. He is the co-host of the Hash podcast. His dream interview is Tyler the Creator.

Check out Max Savage Levenson’s articles

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