Missouri House Republican files new adult-use bill, gutting current state program

Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, has filed a constitutional amendment for legislative consideration. Should the bill be approved by both the state House and Senate, it would be placed on the 2022 ballot.

“I am proud to introduce the Smarter and Safer Missouri initiative to legalize the adult use of marijuana,” Dogan told Greenway. “This initiative will increase personal freedom, allow law enforcement to focus on violent crime instead of nonviolent marijuana users, and provide revenue for infrastructure, broadband, and drug treatment. I am confident Missouri voters will support these commonsense ideas when they have the opportunity to vote on adult use.”

The bill scraps the existing language of Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution, approved by over 65 percent of Missouri voters in 2018. Though being met with constant criticism, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has reported that the state’s program rollout has met all existing constitutional deadlines and is 5th fastest at standing up a regulatory program.

Dogan told Greenway that the bill will be developed as it goes through the legislative process.

Read the bill below.

[pdf id=6349]

Despite the State meeting program benchmarks set by the 2018 constitutional amendment, the pandemic has set back licensed facility construction progress by at least 6 months. Prior to the pandemic and resulting economic collapse, most licensees shared with Greenway that they planned to be open and offering products in the spring to summer 2020.

Missouri witnessed its first legal medical marijuana sale on October 16, 2020.

The State awarded almost 400 licenses to operate a marijuana facility in Missouri – of which, less than 40 are currently approved to operate. Many of the less than 20 dispensaries operating report regular supply instability as more cultivators come online.

Over 2,100 applications were filed for the limited available licenses. In the Cole County Circuit Court, Judge Patricia Joyce ruled in December that the State indeed does have authority to limit licenses based on the current constitutional program.

Beyond operational delays and license cap controversy, the State has received the brunt of criticism over application scoring inconsistencies. Over 700 appeals remain before the Administrative Hearing Commission for consideration. One appellant is asking that the State, in a separate suit, require all identical answers to have identical scores. That case is expected to have a judgment in the next months.

St. Louis Democratic state Reps. Wiley Price and Peter Merideth have also filed adult-use bills. Below are all bills filed in the legislature for the upcoming state legislative session, as of publication, which lasts from January to May.

There is also an organizing committee working on an initiative petition version of adult-use for the 2022 ballot.

PHOTO//TIM BOMMEL-HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS