Recreational marijuana may be on a Missouri ballot soon. Here’s what’s in its way
Last week, a group called Fair Access Missouri filed a series of potential petitions designed to bring legal recreational marijuana to adults in the state.
“Missouri voters are ready for full legalization of cannabis,” the group said on its website.
While that’s true, voters will have to wait: The petition committee must go through several steps before it even starts gathering signatures, and a vote wouldn’t come until 2022.
The petition seeks to amend the Missouri Constitution, which makes sense until one reviews recent history. Republicans who govern Missouri have repeatedly shown the state constitution isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, or that the voters’ will deserves any respect.
The courts may have to sort it out.
Nevertheless, the petition effort to fully legalize small amounts of cannabis for personal use is worth pursuing, and a vote is worth taking. That’s true on the merits — legal marijuana is inevitable — but it’s also true that the tangled laws surrounding the substance contribute to widespread skepticism and cynicism about the law.
A vote on statewide recreational marijuana would be an important step in clearing the air.
There are Missourians in jail today for possessing marijuana. Yet it’s legal to use the substance for medicinal purposes, as long as a patient jumps through the hoops needed to buy it.
Cannabis is costly. Not because marijuana itself is expensive to grow, but because Missouri has created an artificial market by limiting licenses for growing and selling the product.
More confusion? Some jurisdictions prosecute low-level marijuana possession arrests, and some do not. The legal fate of Kansas Citians who want to consume cannabis can often depend on which side of the Buck O’Neil Bridge he or she lives.
Marijuana possession has been decriminalized by the Kansas City Council, yet enforcement varies from county to county.
Did we mention marijuana possession for any reason is still against federal law? Last week, as these Missouri petition applications were filed, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others introduced a bill allowing states to legalize pot, which, of course, the states are already doing.
President Joe Biden is lukewarm about the idea, which makes federal action difficult.
Officeholders at all levels of government must begin to address this mess. When laws are arbitrary, and based on personal whim instead of sound public policy, they are routinely ignored. Worse, it provokes disrespect for other laws, which makes enforcement harder for police and prosecutors.
There is overwhelming evidence that the public supports the availability of cannabis products. They know that alcohol is legally available, and see little difference between prohibition of pot and the failed attempt to ban booze.
We’ll wait and see the final version of the petition drive before deciding whether Missourians should support the measure at the polls. We endorsed one of the medical marijuana initiatives presented to voters in 2018, a measure we now know was flawed — not because patients are using the substance, but because the regulatory framework is anti-competitive.
This proposal could change that.
The federal government should clear this up. Prosecutors and police should get on the same page regarding marijuana possession and use. Kansas, you need to get with the program too.
The people want to use cannabis without fear of arrest or imprisonment. The petition drive is another step in giving the public what it wants, and we applaud it.