Governor says special session will not address marijuana legalization

On Tuesday, Governor Mike Parson announced that the special session held next week will not include addressing the legalization of adult use marijuana in Missouri.

With that, Amendment 3 becomes the sole option for marijuana legalization in the state in 2022.

During legislative session, cannabis reform and marijuana legalization were much-discussed topics with dozens of pieces of marijuana-related legislation introduced this year.

Some of those pieces of legislation gained traction, but a Senate bogged down by redistricting and internal struggles directly contributed to the lack of progress. While other bills lacked sufficient support, even bills that found support were full of gaps and problematic language that made them difficult to correct in a timely fashion.

Inside the Capitol, it was no secret that many members of the legislature preferred to have control over the legalization process rather than allowing the initiative petition to proceed to a vote.

With no progress made during session, the last option available for the legislature to exert control over marijuana legalization would have been its inclusion in the upcoming special session.

Amendment 3 will appear on the November 8 ballot to be decided by Missouri voters.

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]