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Missouri voters haven\u2019t even had a chance to vote on the marijuana legalization initiative that\u2019s on the November ballot yet, but regulators are already taking steps to \u201cbegin planning\u201d for passage, asking for public comment on \u201chow the new law should be implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) said in an announcement on Thursday that if voters approve the cannabis reform measure in November, \u201cit will require the Department to quickly make adjustments to the existing medical marijuana program and implement a new adult consumer program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of this, the Department will begin planning now for these potential changes,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
There was some uncertainty about the prospects of the Legal Missouri 2022 initiative in the run-up to its official certification last week, with early reports suggesting that signatures were short in a couple congressional districts<\/a>. But Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) has since affirmed that enough valid signatures were submitted<\/a> for ballot placement.<\/p>\n The official encouraged voters to \u201cstudy and educate themselves on any ballot initiative\u201d in an announcement about the legalization measure\u2019s certification.<\/p>\n As Missourians familiarize themselves with the reform proposal, DHSS said it will be proactive in preparing for implementation. Part of that preparation will involve accepting public comment.<\/p>\n \u201cAs was the case in implementing the medical marijuana program, the Department will accept and consider carefully public input on how the new law should be implemented in Missouri,\u201d it said<\/a>, linking to an online submission form<\/a> for written comments.<\/p>\n While the department isn\u2019t saying voter approval of the initiative is a given, regulators in other states have similarly found it helpful to get ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n In Arizona, regulators developed a collaborative relationship with stakeholders when legalization was on the ballot, allowing them to expediently release draft rules<\/a> for the program just one month after voters approved the reform.<\/p>\n In 2019, Minnesota\u2019s governor directed state agencies to prepare for legalization<\/a> as the legislature took up the issue, though while the reform went on to pass in the state House of Representatives, it has stalled in the Senate.<\/p>\n Under the Missouri legalization measure, DHSS would hold the primary regulatory responsibility, setting rules and issues cannabis business licenses for the recreational market.<\/p>\n Existing medical cannabis dispensaries under the department\u2019s jurisdiction would be eligible for dual licenses to start serving adult consumers before other retailers were approved.<\/p>\n Legal Missouri 2022 submitted about\u00a0400,000 signatures for a legalization initiative<\/a>\u00a0in May. They needed to reach a signature threshold in at least six of the state\u2019s eight congressional districts to make the ballot, and it initially appeared that\u00a0they were falling behind in two of those districts<\/a>.<\/p>\n The campaign, for its part, said it had been actively reviewing the results from local officials to check for errors and felt confident it would end up qualifying.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what Legal Missouri 2022\u2019s reform\u00a0initiative<\/a>\u00a0would accomplish:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Adults 21 and older could purchase and possess up to three ounces of cannabis.<\/p>\n They could also grow up to six flowering marijuana plants, six immature plants and six clones if they obtain a registration card.<\/p>\n The initiative would impose a six percent tax on recreational cannabis sales and use revenue to facilitate automatic expungements for people with certain non-violent marijuana offenses on their records.<\/p>\n Remaining revenue would go toward veterans\u2019 healthcare, substance misuse treatment and the state\u2019s public defender system.<\/p>\n DHSS would be responsible for regulating the program and issuing licenses for cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n Regulators would be required to issue at least 144 microbusiness licenses through a lottery system, with priority given to low-income applicants and people who have been disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization.<\/p>\n Existing medical marijuana dispensaries would also be first in line to start serving adult consumers with dual licenses.<\/p>\n Regulators could create rules around advertising, but they could not be any more stringent than existing restrictions on alcohol marketing.<\/p>\n Public consumption, driving under the influence of cannabis and underage marijuana use would be explicitly prohibited.<\/p>\n A seed-to-sale tracking system would be established for the marijuana market.<\/p>\n Local jurisdictions would be able to opt out of permitting cannabis microbusinesses or retailers from operating in their area if voters approve the ban at the ballot.<\/p>\n The measure would further codify employment protections for medical cannabis patients.<\/p>\n Medical marijuana cards would be valid for three years at a time, instead of one. And caregivers would be able to serve double the number of patients.<\/p>\n A strong majority of Missouri voters, including a plurality of Republicans,\u00a0support legalizing marijuana for adult use<\/a>, a recent poll found.<\/p>\n \u2014 John Payne, Legal Missouri 2022 campaign manager, previously led a\u00a0successful ballot effort to legalize medical cannabis<\/a>\u00a0in the Show-Me State in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cThis quick implementation is important and we are glad to see DHSS preparing for the historic passage of this citizen-led initiative petition,\u201d Payne told Marijuana Moment on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are now less than three months away from making Missouri the 20th state to regulate, tax and legalize cannabis, while being the first state in the country to pass automatic expungement of most, past nonviolent marijuana offenses by a vote of the people,\u201d he said. \u201cIf passed, Amendment 3 in Missouri will allow adults 21 years and older to purchase safe, tested, legal cannabis at more than 200 locations and growing across Missouri next spring.\u201d<\/p>\n Legal Missouri 2022\u2019s initiative is backed by the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association as well as ACLU of Missouri; St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County chapters of the NAACP; all six active chapters of Missouri NORML and Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some advocates and stakeholders have raised concerns about the ballot proposal and pushed for legislative reform instead,\u00a0like a legalization bill from Rep. Ron Hicks (R)<\/a>.<\/p>\n That measure moved through the committee process this year, and there were expectations that it would reach the House floor in May, but\u00a0leadership was unwilling to advance it<\/a>\u00a0before the session adjourned.<\/p>\n Supporters of the Hicks bill have argued that the lack of specific language in the initiative prohibiting a licensing cap means the market that emerges will not be competitive. Some have also raised concerns about the measure\u2019s provisions to give medical cannabis dispensaries a head start in serving the adult-use market.<\/p>\n Another Republican lawmaker in the state, Rep. Jason Chipman (R),\u00a0filed a joint resolution<\/a>\u00a0this session\u00a0that would let voters require additional oversight over how medical cannabis tax revenue is distributed to veterans.<\/p>\n A different campaign, Fair Access Missouri,\u00a0separately explored multiple citizen initiatives<\/a>\u00a0this year with the hopes of getting at least one on the ballot, but did not end up submitting signatures for any of the measures.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the state of play for other drug policy ballot initiatives for 2022:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n North Dakota voters will have the chance to\u00a0decide on marijuana legalization at the ballot<\/a>\u00a0this November, the secretary of state\u2019s office confirmed.<\/p>\n In neighboring South Dakota, a marijuana legalization initiative has\u00a0again qualified for the ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Arkansas Supreme Court recently ordered the secretary of state\u2019s office to\u00a0certify a marijuana legalization initiative<\/a>\u00a0for the November ballot\u2014but there\u2019s a chance that the votes will not end up being counted, depending on the final outcome of a pending legal challenge.<\/p>\n Maryland elections officials have finalized the language\u00a0for a marijuana legalization referendum<\/a>\u00a0that lawmakers placed on the November ballot, and have issued a formal summary of the reform proposal.<\/p>\n Colorado voters will have the chance to\u00a0decide on a historic ballot initiative<\/a>\u00a0this November to legalize psychedelics and create licensed psilocybin \u201chealing centers\u201d where people can use the substance for therapeutic purposes.<\/p>\n The Oklahoma attorney general\u00a0revised the ballot title of a marijuana legalization initiative<\/a>\u00a0that activists hope will be certified to go before the state\u2019s voters, making mostly technical changes that the campaign views as satisfactory.<\/p>\n Nebraska advocates recently submitted signatures for a\u00a0pair of medical cannabis legalization initiatives<\/a>. The campaign has faced several challenges along the way, including the loss of critical funding after a key donor passed away and a\u00a0court battle of the state\u2019s geographic requirements<\/a>\u00a0for ballot petitions.<\/p>\n Michigan activists announced in June that they will no longer be pursuing\u00a0a statewide psychedelics legalization ballot initiative<\/a>\u00a0for this year\u2019s election and will instead focus on qualifying the measure to go before voters in 2024.<\/p>\n The campaign behind an effort to decriminalize drugs and expand treatment and recovery services in Washington State said in June that it has\u00a0halted its push to qualify an initiative<\/a>\u00a0for November\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n While Wyoming activists said earlier this year that\u00a0they made solid progress in collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0for a pair of ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana possession and legalize medical cannabis,\u00a0they didn\u2019t get enough to make the 2022 ballot deadline<\/a>\u00a0and will be aiming for 2024 while simultaneously pushing the legislature to advance reform even sooner.<\/p>\n In March, California activists announced that they\u00a0came up short on collecting enough signatures<\/a>\u00a0to qualify a measure to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for the state\u2019s November ballot, though they aren\u2019t giving up on a future election cycle bid.<\/p>\n An effort to put adult-use legalization on the statewide ballot in Ohio fizzled out this year<\/a>, but the campaign did secure a procedural legal win that will allow them to hit the ground running for a planned 2023 reform initiative.<\/p>\n Locally, Ohio voters in at least seven cities will get a chance to join many of their neighboring jurisdictions in enacting local marijuana decriminalization<\/a> at the ballot this November.<\/p>\n Voters in five Texas cities will also vote on local cannabis decriminalization measures<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n Advocates have also worked to place local decriminalization ordinances on the ballot in West Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wisconsin voters in at least half a dozen cities and counties\u00a0will also be asked on November\u2019s ballot<\/a>\u00a0whether they support legalizing, taxing and regulating cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol. Those Wisconsin advisory questions will be non-binding, however, and are intended to take the temperature of voters and send a message to lawmakers about where their constituents stand.<\/p>\n Transportation Department Proposes New CBD Guidance For Medical Examiners Certifying Commercial Drivers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. <\/em><\/p>\n The post Missouri Officials \u2018Begin Planning\u2019 For Marijuana Legalization Now That Reform Is On The Ballot<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Missouri voters haven\u2019t even had a chance to vote on the marijuana legalization initiative that\u2019s on the November ballot yet, but regulators are already taking steps to \u201cbegin planning\u201d for passage, asking for public comment on \u201chow the new law should be implemented.\u201d The Missouri Department of Health and SeniorContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":56698,"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\/56697"}],"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=56697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56699,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56697\/revisions\/56699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Missouri Officials \u2018Begin Planning\u2019 For Marijuana Legalization Now That Reform Is On The Ballot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"