A group of Missouri marijuana activists recently filed four separate initiatives to put marijuana reform on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot, a move that comes as other advocacy groups are preparing separate efforts to collect signatures for cannabis ballot petitions of their own. Meanwhile, still other activists are focusing on getting the legislature to pass a resolution to place the question of legalization before voters next year.<\/p>\n
One group, Fair Access Missouri, is exploring multiple citizen initiatives with the hopes of getting at least one on the ballot next year. Three of the four would create a system of legalized cannabis sales for adults 21 and older, while another would simply amend the state\u2019s existing medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen across the country that smart rules and an open market are the way to go when legalizing cannabis, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll be bringing to Missouri,\u201d the organization said in a statement last week.<\/p>\n
While the group is pushing four separate measures, there\u2019s overlap among their provisions and it\u2019s likely that advocates at this stage are putting out feelers to see which may have the greatest potential to pass if put to a vote.<\/p>\n
Aside from recreational marijuana legalization, three of the new initiatives would amend the state\u2019s medical cannabis program. Among other changes, they would remove licensing caps, repeal the application scoring system, reduce patient fees, allow patients to access a one-year supply instead of 90 days, allow nurses and psychologists to make medical marijuana recommendations, eliminate some restrictions on market participation eligibility for people with prior cannabis convictions, increase the number of patients that a given caregiver can serve and revise the definition of hemp.<\/p>\n
But the group is also eyeing broader reform, and three of Fair Access Missouri\u2019s initiatives<\/a> would accomplish<\/a> that by implementing a regulated adult-use marijuana market.<\/p>\n The purpose of the measures is to \u201cpermit the safe and legal use of cannabis by adults over the age of 21 and to responsibly regulate the cultivation, processing, manufacturing, and distribution of cannabis,\u201d the text states. \u201cThe people of Missouri have a right to enjoy the benefits of their labor free from unreasonable regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n Today we filed petitions to continue our fight for an adult-use open market with \u2014 low taxes and low barriers for entrepreneurs. Find out more and join us >> https:\/\/t.co\/oINC2GJjkU<\/a> #FairAccess<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/J6vlpr66iT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FairAccessMO (@FairAccessMO) July 12, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Free Access Missouri, which has ties to the Missouri Cannabis Industry Association (MCIA), does seem to be living up to its name based on the measures, which contain provisions that appear to specifically promote industry participation by proposing a system without licensing limits.<\/p>\n With respect to the adult-use legalization measures, differences between them largely come down to brevity and cannabis tax revenue allocation.<\/p>\n Shared provisions include allowing adults to possess up to eight ounces of cannabis and cultivate \u201cup to 25 square feet of flowering canopy of cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n Regulators would have to promulgate rules to issue cannabis licenses by June 30, 2023, otherwise the industry rules would default to being the same as those for alcohol manufacturing and sales.<\/p>\n There would be no local-opt out provision to fully ban marijuana businesses from operating in a given area in two of the measures. However, local governments would be able to pass ordinances governing time of operation and locations.<\/p>\n One of the initiatives, which is far shorter than the others and doesn\u2019t contain the medical cannabis amendments language that\u2019s in the other three measures, leaves the issue of local control more open, stipulating that jurisdictions must simply \u201cdevelop and adopt ordinances and policies related to cannabis licensees no later than June 30, 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n Local ordinances could not \u201ccreate an undue burden on access to consumers,\u201d however. Presumably a blanket ban on retailers could fit the definition of an \u201cundue burden,\u201d but the text of the short measure doesn\u2019t explicitly prohibit that action.<\/p>\n People with marijuana convictions\u2014except for certain felonies or distribution to a person under 17\u2014could petition for a \u201crelease from custody and expungement of their criminal record.\u201d These petitions would need to be expedited and granted unless the individual has additional crimes.<\/p>\n Among the two lengthy recreational measures, one would split cannabis tax revenue between the general fund and nonprofits that help people expunge past records, while the other would earmark the funds for a broader range of services, including expanding internet access, improving roads, repairing utilities, substance misuse prevention and treatment, marijuana research, job training for formerly incarcerated people and small business loans and grants for marginalized people.<\/p>\n Eric McSwain, president of Fair Access Missouri, told<\/a> MO Greenway that a primary goal of the group\u2019s push is to \u201cactually make the medical program better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen that mistake in other states where adult use comes around and all of a sudden the medical program suffers or is made to suffer by additional policies,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to avoid that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to create a more open market. Where our normal market forces can sort of blend in and do their work in order to set prices, supply, demand, all those sorts of things,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe think that\u2019s to the benefit of consumers, patients first, and also adult use consumers\u2014because they\u2019re going to see that competition is going to force higher quality at lower prices.\u201d<\/p>\n Some activists feel that the group\u2019s initiatives don\u2019t quite meet the mark, particularly as it concerns restrictions embedded in the language.<\/p>\n The pro-legalization Crossing Paths PAC, for example, said the limits on personal possession and home cultivation in Fair Access Missouri\u2019s measures would actually create a burden for law enforcement. The group said \u201ccontinuing to mandate personal possession or homegrow limits would waste law enforcement resources, as police would still have to make a determination of what lawful possession is.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, it expressed concerns about the lack of a distinction between different forms of THC. \u201cWe\u2019d welcome the chance to engage with Fair Access or any other group that is unhappy with the significant problems stemming from\u201d the current medical cannabis system, it said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fair Access Missouri\u2019s initiatives are also a focus of a MCIA ballot initiative workshop<\/a> that\u2019s taking place this weekend.<\/p>\n This group isn\u2019t alone in working to put legalization on the 2022 ballot. New Approach Missouri, which successfully got a medical cannabis initiative passed by voters in 2018<\/a>, is also planning to file a broader reform initiative<\/a> in the coming days through its campaign committee Legal Missouri 2022,. Details of the proposal have yet to be released, however.<\/p>\n \u201cOur coalition looks forward to putting a cannabis legalization and expungement initiative on the 2022 ballot,\u201d John Payne, campaign director of New Approach Missouri, told Marijuana Moment on Friday. \u201cWe are fortunate to live in a state where the citizens have the right to change our laws through the initiative petition process.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut that process is an arduous one, which is why of the hundreds of petitions filed every election cycle, only a handful typically reach the ballot, and even fewer are passed into law,\u201d he said. \u201cOur coalition of activists, entrepreneurs, and criminal justice reform advocates looks forward to placing this important issue before voters in 2022 and winning their support, much like we were able to do in 2018 with medical marijuana. We wish others luck as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The organization tried to place the issue of legalization before voters<\/a> last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed that effort.<\/p>\n Despite the health crisis, activists managed to collect 80,000 raw signatures within months<\/a>, though they needed 160,199 valid signatures to qualify.<\/p>\n For 2022, proposals to amend the state Constitution will need 171,592 valid signatures from registered voters.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some advocates want the legislature to take the lead on reform. And Rep. Shamed Dogan (R), who filed a resolution last year to ask voters about legalization on the ballot<\/a> and compel lawmakers to develop a legal system if approved, is expected to make another push for similar legislation early next year after the prior effort failed to advance this session.<\/p>\n It should be noted that there\u2019s yet another group pushing to put a marijuana initiative on the ballot next year\u2014but one that doesn\u2019t currently having the backing of major trade or advocacy groups. It would similarly legalize<\/a> cannabis for adult use.<\/p>\n Missouri is just one state where activists are working to qualify marijuana reform for 2022 ballots around the country.<\/p>\n Nebraska marijuana activists have announced plans for a \u201cmass scale\u201d campaign to\u00a0put medical cannabis legalization on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two\u00a0measures were submitted in Wyoming<\/a> last month to place medical cannabis legalization and adult-use decriminalization<\/a>\u00a0measures before voters in 2022.<\/p>\n This month, Idaho activists filed a revised measure to legalize marijuana possession<\/a>\u00a0for adults that they hope to place before voters on the 2022 ballot. That\u2019s in addition to a separate medical cannabis effort in the state.<\/p>\n In South Dakota, activists this month filed four separate cannabis ballot measures<\/a> for 2022.<\/p>\n North Dakota activists are formulating\u00a0plans for a marijuana legalization measure<\/a>\u00a0after lawmakers failed to enact the reform this session.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court has\u00a0blocked two cannabis legalization initiatives<\/a>\u00a0for which activists had already collected thousands of signatures.<\/p>\n Locally, a newly established Texas progressive group unveiled a campaign last month to\u00a0put an initiative to decriminalize marijuana possession<\/a>\u00a0and ban no-knock warrants on this November\u2019s ballot in Austin.<\/p>\n Ohio activists also recently\u00a0qualified a measure to decriminalize cannabis<\/a>\u00a0to appear on a local 2021 ballot\u2014the first of dozens of reform proposals that could go before voters this year as signature gathering efforts continue across the state. The group is also working to put marijuana initiatives on\u00a0local ballots in South Carolina and West Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Top Rhode Island Senator Says Lawmakers Are Discussing A Marijuana Legalization Compromise This Summer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Missouri Marijuana Activists File Legalization Initiatives For 2022 As Other Groups Prepare Separate Measures<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A group of Missouri marijuana activists recently filed four separate initiatives to put marijuana reform on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot, a move that comes as other advocacy groups are preparing separate efforts to collect signatures for cannabis ballot petitions of their own. Meanwhile, still other activists are focusing on gettingContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48939,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48938\/revisions\/48939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n
\nRead More: Missouri Marijuana Activists File Legalization Initiatives For 2022 As Other Groups Prepare Separate Measures<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"