The University of Missouri in Columbia. The Secretary of State announced Tuesday that a campaign to legalise recreational marijuana in Missouri gathered enough signatures.
If voters approve the amendment, those over the age of 21 can purchase and grow marijuana for personal use.
John Payne said that they were looking forward to engaging with voters across the state. The people of Missouri are ready to end the prohibition of marijuana.
Medical marijuana use was approved by voters in the state. Efforts to allow recreational marijuana use have failed to pass the Republican-led Legislature.
In the fall, South Dakota and Maryland will be able to vote on legalization of marijuana. Supporters are trying to get measures on the ballot in several states.
There is a provision on the Missouri ballot proposal that would wipe out past marijuana-related convictions for non-violent offenders.
Automatic expungement was endorsed by local NAACP chapters, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and other civil rights advocacy groups. Automatic expungement policies have been adopted by seven other states.
The measure in Missouri would impose a tax on marijuana sales. The tax is expected to bring in more than $46 million in the first year, and more than 70 million in the second year. Drug treatment programs and public defenders would get some of the revenue.
Local sales taxes on recreational marijuana could be as high as 3% or a ban on non-medical marijuana sales could be voted on by the public.
The proposal to allow ranked-choice voting failed to gather enough voter signatures from six of the state's eight congressional districts.
The proposal would have candidates from all parties listed on the primary ballots in August of 2024. The top four candidates with the most votes would move on to the general election, where voters could rank the candidates from first to last.
Scott Charton said in a statement that supporters would be honored with continued work on the issue.
He said that if we want leaders in elected office who put our country and state ahead of their political party, we need to change the system.
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