Help End Cannabis Prohibition in Missouri
Are you ready to LEGALIZE?
Show-Me Cannabis filed two initiatives with the Missouri Secretary of State on Wednesday, July 6, 2011. Both are very similar. One is to amend the Missouri Constitution and the other is to propose statutory changes in Missouri law. It will take about a month for the Secretary of State to approve official ballot language, at which time we can begin to gather signatures for petitions. We will then have until May 2012 to gather enough signatures to place the initiative on the November 2012 ballot.
Kansas City NORML will hold training sessions for local activists who want to help with this petition drive. If you plan to help gather signatures, please plan to attend one of these sessions.
The Ballot Measure Would Legalize…
For Personal Use:
- possession for all adults, 21 and older
- personal cultivation (not for resale) in a space up to 10X10 ft (can be larger for patients)
- cultivation for resale with license from the state (includes tax of $100/pound)
- cannabis retail stores with license from the state
For Medical Use
- doctors and patients shall have full legal rights regarding cannabis as with any other therapy
- grants medical use rights to patients from other states
For Commercial Hemp
- farmers would be allowed to grow hemp just like any other crop in Missouri
What else would the Ballot measure do?
Cannabis would be removed from the Missouri drug schedule. Also the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services would adopt regulations/applications/licenses for cannabis establishments. (deadline for regulations would be February 1, 2013) The state can NOT require cannabis establishments to ask for any personal information other than a state ID to prove your age. Cannabis sold in retail stores would be required to be labeled with weight, estimated potency, and any pesticides used.
All non-violent, cannabis-only offenders in Missouri prisons and jails would be released. The court would be forced to order all non-violent, cannabis-only offenses to be expunged from the records.
Also included is the language: “Pursuant to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the people of Missouri hereby repudiate and challenge federal cannabis prohibitions that conflict with this Act”
Now is the time!
Recent polling indicates that nearly half of Missouri voters are ready to vote “yes” on this initiative. We are halfway there before we’ve even started! We have some undecided voters to convince and a lot of work to do before it’s even on the ballot. If you’re in Kansas City, join the Kansas City chapter of NORML, and make history with activists around the state.
As our new Chapter President, Jeff Godfirnon, recently stated, “This next year is going to the biggest, craziest year we have had.”
