Marijuana legalization in Missouri will be decided in November election

Missouri voters will be tasked with determining the fate of marijuana legalization in 2022.

Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s Office, certified the Legal Missouri 2022 initiative petition for the November 8, 2022, general election.

The IP will officially appear as Amendment 3 on the November ballot.

“MoCannTrade and its members are excited at the prospect of Missouri becoming the 20th state to legalize cannabis. We know this day would not have come without the state and industry earning the trust of Missourians by providing safe, tested, quality medicine to those seeking medical relief through cannabis. We are particularly excited to see past, nonviolent marijuana offenses automatically expunged under this initiative. This critical criminal justice reform is overwhelmingly supported by our industry and the patients we serve. We will see you at the polls in November,” said Andrew Mullins, MoCannTrade (Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association) Executive Director.

The ballot language will appear as:

Official Ballot Title:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

remove state prohibitions on purchasing, possessing, consuming, using, delivering, manufacturing, and selling marijuana for personal use for adults over the age of twenty-one;
require a registration card for personal cultivation with prescribed limits;
allow persons with certain marijuana-related non-violent offenses to petition for release from incarceration or parole and probation and have records expunged;
establish a lottery selection process to award licenses and certificates;
issue equally distributed licenses to each congressional district; and
impose a six percent tax on the retail price of marijuana to benefit various programs?

State governmental entities estimate initial costs of $3.1 million, initial revenues of at least $7.9 million, annual costs of $5.5 million, and annual revenues of at least $40.8 million. Local governments are estimated to have annual costs of at least $35,000 and annual revenues of at least $13.8 million.

Fair Ballot Language:

A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to remove state prohibitions on the purchase, possession, consumption, use, delivery, manufacture, and sale of marijuana for personal use for adults over the age of twenty-one.

The amendment would also allow individuals with certain marijuana-related offenses to petition for release from prison or parole and probation and have their records expunged; along with imposing a six percent tax on the retail price of recreational marijuana.

A “no” vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution and the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes will remain prohibited under current law. Medical marijuana would remain unchanged.

If passed, this measure will impose a 6 percent tax on the retail price of recreational marijuana.

The initiative campaign was validated in Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7.

The campaign did not submit enough qualifying signatures in Districts 4 and 8, but those results were to be expected – the size and spread of population over District 8 has made it a difficult district to farm signatures in historically.

Read the full breakdown of districts in the certificate below.

[View Certificate of Sufficiency]