It’s appearing Missouri voters will get to decide in November whether it’s time to legalize recreational marijuana.

As the Missouri Independent and other sources have reported, Legal Missouri 2022 submitted roughly 400,000 signatures in May to the Secretary of State’s Office to get the issue placed on the ballot. John Payne, Legal Missouri 2022 campaign manager, discussed the proposal during a July 7 webinar.

If approved as an amendment to Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution, which legalized medicinal marijuana, Missourians over 21 would be allowed to use recreational marijuana, proposal language states. Other provisions would include legalizing marijuana production, sales and distribution, and allow petitioning for the release of jail or prison inmates who have “non-violent, marijuana-related offenses,” along with removing those offenses from their records, it states.

Payne, who helped legalize medicinal marijuana by pushing for the passage of Article XIV, presented a proposal summary for educational purposes. One key element he discussed was that the amendment would allow Missourians 21 and older to possess, buy, use and grow cannabis, yet maintain prohibition on public use and driving while impaired.

Regarding other crime-related issues, violent offenders also charged with marijuana-related crimes and those whose offenses include distribution to minors would be ineligible for expunging those offenses, Payne said.

Other issues Payne discussed included opt-out and new license provisions. Communities may opt out of adult-use retail marijuana sales through a vote of the people, he said.

The new business license would add “a minimum of 144 new cannabis businesses (to the) existing 385 licenses,” according to Payne. Current businesses licensed to sell medical marijuana include KC Cannabis, whose dispensary locations include Excelsior Springs.

Payne explained that the new license would be reserved for historically disadvantaged groups: people with limited funding, those living in high-poverty areas, service-disabled veterans and those with non-violent, marijuana-related court convictions. Moreover, at least 18 of the new businesses would be added to each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts, he said.

Converting medical-only facilities to businesses serving both medical patients and adult-use consumers will immediately reduce the illicit market, Payne said. It also will extend the amount of time medical and caregiver cards are valid from one to three years while keeping marijuana card costs low, he said.

Under the current system, the new or renewal application fee for a medical marijuana card for a patient or caregiver is $27.76, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services website states. A patient cultivator new or renewal application fee is $110.99.