Missouri Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative (2016)

Missouri Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative
Election date November 8, 2016
Topic Marijuana
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens

Not on Ballot
This measure was not put on an election ballot

The Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative did not qualify for the November 8, 2016, ballot in Missouri as an initiated constitutional amendment. The measure would have allowed the use of marijuana for medical purposes and created regulations and licensing procedures for marijuana and marijuana facilities.

Text of measure

Official ballot title

“

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and create regulations and licensing procedures for marijuana and marijuana facilities; impose a 4 percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana; and use funds from these taxes for health and care services for military veterans by the Missouri Veterans Commission and to administer the program to license and regulate marijuana and marijuana facilities? This proposal is estimated to generate additional annual taxes and fees of $17 million to $21 million for state operating costs and veterans programs, $8 million for other state programs, and $7 million for local governments. State operating costs will be significant. Additional local government costs are likely.

”

Text of measure

The full text of the measure can be found here.

Support

The campaign in support of the initiative was led by New Approach Missouri. Board president of New Approach Missouri Lee Winters said,

“	We've tried to look at the 23 existing states that already provide medical cannabis as a therapeutic to their patients and take the best practices from each of those states, and use that to make the most robust, complete, and safe program for the State of Missouri.	”
—Lee Winters

Opposition

The Missouri Sheriffs Association opposed this petition and all attempts to legalize marijuana. Lawrence County Sheriff Brad DeLay said,

“	Based on what we do, the information that we've received and some of the research that we've done, especially using Colorado as the test state, it has not gone well for law enforcement, the issues that have arisen from there. Driving while intoxicated, not necessarily alcohol, those arrests have gone up.	”
—Brad DeLay

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

The supporting group needed to turn in at least 157,788 valid signatures. Missouri law states that signatures must be obtained from registered voters equal to 8 percent of the total votes cast in the most recent governor's election from 6 of the state's 8 congressional districts.

Signatures were submitted for the initiative on May 8, 2016. The secretary of state's office had until August 9, 2016, to review the signatures and approve or reject the measure for the ballot on November 8, 2016. The Missouri secretary of state's office found that the campaign did not file enough valid signatures to meet the 32,227 signature minimum in the second congressional district. New Approach Missouri filed a legal challenge to review over 10,700 signatures that were regarded as invalid. Prosecutors have requested to intervene, arguing that the proposal violates the Missouri constitution because it contradicts federal law.

  

Lawsuit overview
Issue: Signature invalidation
Court: St. Louis City Circuit Court
Ruling: Signatures were properly invalidated, measure to remain off the ballot
Plaintiff(s): New Approach Missouri	Defendant(s): Sec. of State Jason Kander and over a dozen Missouri prosecutors
Plaintiff argument: Rejected signatures are valid	Defendant argument: Legalizing medical marijuana contradicts federal law and signatures were legitemately invalidated

Related measures

See also: History of marijuana ballot measures and laws and Marijuana on the ballot

The first attempt to legalize marijuana through the initiative process came in 1972, when California activists got an initiative certified for the ballot. The measure was defeated. Marijuana legalization advocates had their breakthrough election in 2012, when both Washington and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. Oregonians rejected a legalization measure that same year, but approved one two years later in 2014. As of the beginning of 2016, recreational marijuana had been legalized in four states and Washington, D.C. All legalizations came through the initiative process. As of the beginning of 2016, medical marijuana was legal in 25 states.

More than 60 statewide marijuana-related initiatives were submitted for the 2016 ballot. The table below shows the marijuana-related measures that qualified for the 2016 election ballot:

Marijuana measures on the ballot in 2016
State	Measures
California	California Proposition 64, California Marijuana Legalization a
Arizona	Arizona Marijuana Legalization, Proposition 205 d
Maine	Maine Marijuana Legalization, Question 1 a
Massachusetts	Massachusetts Marijuana Legalization, Question 4 a

The following table includes past initiative attempts in the United States to legalize marijuana:

State	Year	Measure	Status
Arizona	2016	Proposition 205	d
California	2016	Proposition 64	a
Maine	2016	Question 1	a
Massachusetts	2016	Question 4	a
Nevada	2016	Question 2	a
Ohio	2015	Legalization Initiative	d
Alaska	2014	Ballot Measure 2	a
Oregon	2014	Measure 91	a
Washington, D.C.	2014	Initiative 71	a
Colorado	2012	Amendment 64	a
Oregon	2012	Measure 80	d
Washington	2012	Initiative 502	a
California	2010	Proposition 19	d
Nevada	2006	Question 7	d
Alaska	2004	Measure 2	d
Nevada	2002	Question 9	d
California	1972	Proposition 19	d

See also

Suggest a link

• 2016 ballot measures
• Missouri 2016 ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

External links

• Petitions approved for circulation

Footnotes

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