Big news for Missouri!
proposed constitutional amendmentwould allow doctors to recommend medical cannabis for any condition.
Qualified patients, after getting physician approval, would receive identification cards from the state that last for one year, subject to renewal. Patients and their primary caregivers would be allowed to cultivate up to six marijuana plants and purchase at least four ounces of cannabis from dispensaries on a monthly basis.
The state would issue licenses for medical cannabis cultivation, testing, infused products manufacturing and dispensing businesses.
The measure sets up a four percent retail tax on medical cannabis sales, with all revenue going toward services for military veterans after implementation and regulations costs are covered.
Path to ballot: Organizers need to collect 160,199 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify the measure. As of late September, the campaign
had collected nearly 75,000 raw signatures.
Who is behind the campaign: New Approach Missouri is working to put the measure before voters. The organization narrowly failed to qualify a similar measure for 2016’s ballot.
Polling: A number of polls have found majority support for medical cannabis, including a July 2016 survey showing
voters favored an earlier proposed ballot measure by a margin of 62 percent to 27 percent.
Other Missouri Measures: A
second medical cannabis constitutional initiative being organized by physician, lawyer and former lieutenant governor candidate Brad Bradshaw appears that it may qualify as well. His campaign says that it has already collected nearly 150,000 signatures. A
third measure, a statutory one involving former House Speaker Steve Tilley, is also in play. And there are also a number of other
competing marijuana initiatives seeking ballot access, including several that would legalize recreational marijuana in addition to medical cannabis, but there is no indication that these measures have enough funding to qualify.
