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Missouri Marijuana Legalization and Expungement Initiative (2020)

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Missouri Marijuana Legalization and Expungement Initiative
Flag of Missouri.png
Election date
November 3, 2020
Topic
Marijuana
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment		Origin
Citizens

The Missouri Marijuana Legalization and Expungement Initiative was not on the ballot in Missouri as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.

The ballot measure would have added language to the Missouri Constitution stating that the use, cultivation, and sale of cannabis, also known as marijuana, is not unlawful or an offense in Missouri. The ballot measure would also have expunged non-violent marijuana-related criminal and civil offenses.[1]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:[1]

“

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

  • repeal all current medical marijuana (cannabis) provisions;
  • remove state prohibitions on possession, consumption, cultivation, and sale of marijuana for personal or medical use, regardless of age;
  • legally allow driving under the influence of marijuana;
  • release all individuals from incarceration, parole and probation if convicted only of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes;
  • remove state prohibitions on commercial cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of marijuana;
  • destroy all state civil and criminal records of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes;
  • prohibit Missouri assisting enforcement of federal marijuana offenses; and
  • prohibit the taxation of physician-recommended medical marijuana?

State governmental entities expect increased revenues of at least $10.7 million annually and savings of at least $6.8 million annually by 2027. Local governmental entities are expected to have revenue increases of at least $26.6 million annually by 2027 and are expected to have cost increases of an unknown amount.[2]

”

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Background

Recreational marijuana in the United States

See also: History of marijuana ballot measures and laws

As of July 2019, 11 states and the District of Columbia had legalized marijuana for recreational purposes; nine through statewide citizen initiatives, and two through bills approved by state legislatures and signed by governors. Colorado and Washington both opted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012. In a subsequent Colorado measure, voters enacted a statewide marijuana taxation system. The three ballot measures that passed in 2014 were Oregon's Measure 91, Alaska's Measure 2, and the District of Columbia's Initiative 71. Voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada approved recreational marijuana legalization ballot measures in November 2016. The Vermont State Legislature approved a bill in mid-January 2018 to allow recreational marijuana, and Gov. Phil Scott (R) signed it into law on January 22, 2018. Gov. Scott vetoed a previous bill to legalize marijuana in May 2017. On June 25, 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law legalizing the use and possession of recreational marijuana. Initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana were on the ballot in November 2018 in Michigan and North Dakota. The Michigan initiative was approved, and the North Dakota initiative was defeated.[3][4][5]

The map below details the status of recreational marijuana legalization in the states as of November 2018. States shaded in green had legalized recreational marijuana usage (the shades of green indicate the years in which ballot measures were adopted; light green indicates measures approved in 2012, medium green indicates measures approved in 2014, medium-dark green indicates measures approved in 2016, and dark green indicates measures approved in 2018). The states shaded in dark gray had defeated ballot measures that proposed to legalize recreational marijuana. States in blue had recreational marijuana approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor. The remaining states (those shaded in light gray) had not legalized recreational marijuana.

Recreational marijuana legalization measures, 2012-2020

The following table provides information on the political context of the states that had voted on legalization measures as of 2022.

Click "Show" to expand the table.

Campaign finance

The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through January 15, 2020. The deadline for the next scheduled reports was April 15, 2020.


Total campaign contributions:
Support: $400.00
Opposition: $0.00
See also: Campaign finance requirements for Missouri ballot measures

There was one political action committee, Missourians for a New Approach, registered to support the measure. As of January 15, 2020, the committee had raised $400.00.[6]

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committee in support of the measure:[6]

Committees in support of Missouri Marijuana Legalization and Expungement Initiative
Supporting committeesCash contributionsIn-kind servicesCash expenditures
Missourians for a New Approach$400.00$0.00$35,794.99
Total$400.00$0.00$35,794.99
Totals in support
Total raised:$400.00
Total spent:$35,794.99

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

Process in Missouri

In Missouri, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election in six of the eight state congressional districts. Signatures must be filed with the secretary of state six months prior to the election.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:

  • Signatures: The smallest possible requirement was 160,199 valid signatures. The actual requirement depends on the congressional districts in which signatures were collected.
  • Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was May 3, 2020.

Once the signatures have been filed with the secretary of state, the secretary copies the petition sheets and transmits them to county election authorities for verification. The secretary of state may choose whether the signatures are to be verified by a 5 percent random sample or full verification. If the random sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If more than 110 percent, the initiative is certified, and, if less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.

Stages of this initiative

Mark Pedersen filed the ballot initiative on June 12, 2019. On July 24, 2019, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) approved the initiative for signature gathering. Petitioners did not submit signatures by the May 3 deadline.[1]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Missouri Secretary of State, "2020 Initiative Petitions Approved for Circulation in Missouri," accessed August 2, 2019
  2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Vermont
  4. ↑ The Hill, "Vermont governor vetoes marijuana legalization," May 24, 2017
  5. ↑ Associated Press, "Illinois becomes 11th state to allow recreational marijuana," June 25, 2019
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Missouri Campaign Finance Search, "Missourians for a New Approach," accessed January 28, 2020
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