A Missouri lawmaker has introduced legislation recently to place adult-use cannabis legalization on the 2022 ballot.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri Rep. Shamed Dogan has filed legislation that would place an adult-use cannabis legalization measure on the state’s 2022 ballot.
Called House Joint Resolution 30, the measure is a constitutional amendment that would leave Missouri’s medical cannabis program intact, but would repeal the text of the 2018 constitutional amendment that legalized medical cannabis.
This would ultimately remove the state’s controversial licensing process and limited license structure, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Dogan’s proposal would set up a cannabis licensing process that is similar to licensing any other business in the state said the news outlet.
House Joint Resolution 30 also directs the state to release anyone incarcerated for “non-violent, marijuana only offenses that are no longer illegal in the state of Missouri,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch added.
The measure will also stop monitoring those on probation or parole for those offenses.
The measure would additionally require Missouri courts to expunge civil and criminal records related to “all non-violent, marijuana-only offenses that are no longer illegal” within 60 days of the ballot measure’s passage.
The Post-Dispatch has also reported that the measure would levy a 12% tax on adult-use cannabis and a 4% tax on medical cannabis ad that the revenue generated would be directed to the Smarter and Safer Missouri Fund.
The fund would support the Missouri Veterans Commission, infrastructure projects and drug treatment programs.
