What's in the marijuana legalization petition in Missouri?

STORY: https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/legalize-marijuana-missouri-2022-election/63-26be075c-6b5e-4e4b-bf1e-8d4e13c00712

A group hoping to rally voters around legalizing recreational marijuana in Missouri is ramping up efforts to get their initiative on next November’s ballot.

The group, Legal Missouri 2022, highlighted key parts of their petition during a press conference Thursday morning. Their main objective: legalizing the possession, purchase, consumption and cultivation of marijuana for adults over 21.

Organizers and supporters of the petition are also pushing for criminal reform around some marijuana convictions.

Mallory Rusch is with Empower Missouri, an anti-poverty advocacy group and organizer of the criminal justice coalition.

“With marijuana already being legal for millions of Americans, it is completely nonsensical to continue to penalize and punish individuals for current or past use,” Rusch said.

Rusch is encouraging the automatic expungement provision in the Legal Missouri 2022 petition. Importantly, she says the provision does not apply to everyone with a marijuana conviction: it would not erase convictions of offenses involving distribution to a minor or driving while under the influence of marijuana

Standing with Rusch is Adolphus Pruitt of the St. Louis NAACP.

“This initiative will address and be what we consider one of the largest single criminal justice reform efforts in the state’s history,” Pruitt said.

Citing a 2020 report from the ACLU, Pruitt emphasizes that marijuana reform isn’t only a criminal justice issue, but a racial issue.

“Blacks were 2.6 times more likely than whites to be arrested for possession,” Pruitt said. “Even worse in Johnson, Layfette and Lincoln counties blacks were 10 times more likely to be arrested for low-level marijuana charges.”

Pruitt adds that from 2010 to 2018, 50% of all drug arrests in Missouri were on low-level possession charges

“It is time that we legalize marijuana across the state and at the same time make sure that those folks that were impacted more than others have the opportunity to have their records expunged automatically.”

9 Comments

  1. bob kazzar on May 12, 2022 at 9:49 pm

    first off they need to quit treating pot like its not something people are getting KILLED OVER second, in order to possess or grow pot it should be required that that pot has a government regulated dye added to its feed while growing so that when u get pulled over and the cop wants to check your weed out, when he test it , it turns a specific color from that dye, proving its legality and that yopur not purchasing it from criminals or working for them and just like the tags on your car the color of the dye changes every year so bad guys and even Badder guys cant rig the system. if we keep just saying oh every body over 21 can legally smoke weed the fed gov will never change the laws, we have to be willing to make some changes to



  2. yard pimps on May 12, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    Lincoln county hates us whites to trust me



  3. Rafael P. on May 12, 2022 at 9:53 pm

    It feels like weed is already legal in stl πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚



  4. SoulSeeker 311 on May 12, 2022 at 10:06 pm

    I hope RECREATIONAL CANNABIS DOES NOT PASS…. IT WILL ONLY BE MORE OF A SHIT SHOW. WE WILL BE FLOODED BY OUT OF STATE BUSINESSES AND WE WILL HAVE MORE DISPENSARIES THE STARBUCKS AND MCDONALD’S COMBINED. AND ALL THE MONEY GOING TO THEM WILL BE LEAVING THE STATE, NOT HELPING IT.

    Also these major corporations that are flooding our markets are the same people lobbying/bribing the government to pass laws that hurt the home medical grower, and medical patients. They only care about your money not your medicine or the quality of your product.



  5. Thereal CrunchyTacos1234 on May 12, 2022 at 10:08 pm

    Please legalize it i will leave kck and become a MO resident asap kck is in some bs



  6. Tom Zart on May 12, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    POT FARMER POEM $
    I got out my pipe stuffed it with pot
    You better believe it held a whole lot.
    I whipped out a lighter thumbed up a flame
    Sucked down that smoke which comforts my brain.

    I tried alcohol smoked cigarettes
    They did nothing but give me regrets.
    My mom had arthritis could not walk around
    I rolled her a joint she danced on the ground.

    I thought I was losing my lovemaking knack
    After I smoked some to me it came back.
    Soon I decided prices were high
    I searched for some ground I wouldn’t have to buy.

    I bargained for seeds from smokers all around
    Got in my truck and drove out of town.
    I walked through the woods where wild birds nest
    Found me the meadow I thought was the best.

    I dug up the ground sowed all my seeds
    Said a small prayer for strong, healthy weeds.
    I watered at night with a five-gallon pail
    Mosquitoes went hungry for I wore a veil.

    Seven months went by; I thought I would die
    Till the Halloween moon was high in the sky.
    At night I went out, in a camouflage suit
    Used my corn knife to chop down the loot.

    I hung it up to dry where it couldn’t be found.
    Came back and got it, when it had turned brown.
    I trimmed off the buds, stuffed them in bags
    Called all my friends and passed out free drags.

    In less than a week my crop was gone
    I flew to St. Thomas with a love hungry blonde!!

    By Kansas City Poet Tom Zart
    Google = Most Published Poet On The Web
    Tom’s 1,650 Poems Are Free To Share!
    Google = George Bush Tom Zart



  7. Ricky Edwards on May 12, 2022 at 10:11 pm

    Done forget its not!



  8. Lance on May 12, 2022 at 10:24 pm

    I just heard about this! They’ve got 200k signatures. I’m still going to add to that. Don’t forget this November!



  9. jbleezy4200 on May 12, 2022 at 10:30 pm

    Why isn’t it already like fuck