Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Marijuana proponents in Missouri say the state is ready to legalize pot for medical purposes, but they weren't as eager to support a blanket legalization of the plant.
And the Show-Me State can benefit from missing the hits taken by states like California and Colorado with more progressive drug laws, cannabis activists say.
Marijuana activists from across Missouri gathered at The Library Center in south Springfield on Saturday for the fall cannabis conference of the Missouri chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. Organizers said it was the first time Springfield had hosted the event, at least in recent memory.
Springfield has not been on the map recently for news related to marijuana legalization, at least not when compared to Kansas City, which reduced penalties related to marijuana in April, and to St. Louis, where a city alderwoman proposes legalizing the growth, possession and sale of marijuana.
The Kansas City vote was "a miracle," said longtime Missouri marijuana organizer Dan Viets, a Columbia attorney who has worked for years to change state drug laws. He didn't think the measure would pass and was shocked that it not only succeeded but did so with nearly 75 percent of the vote.
"Nobody gets 75 percent," Viets said. "Motherhood and apple pie don't get 75 percent."
Such strong support may be higher than normal in Kansas City, where voters are more liberal compared to the rest of the state. But, members of a NORML panel working to legalize medical marijuana say they believe a majority of Missourians would support their initiative, given the option.
NORML is working to pass an amendment to the Missouri Constitution to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. This initiative, known as New Approach Missouri, has gathered about 60,000 out of the necessary 170,000 valid signatures, organizers say.
This pales in comparison to the claims of a rival medical marijuana movement based in Springfield that worries New Approach Missouri.
Brad Bradshaw, a Springfield attorney and physician, has been organizing signature-gathering efforts for his own medical marijuana initiative. Bradshaw's website claims his petition has garnered more than 100,000 total signatures.
While New Approach and Bradshaw seem to have similar goals, the two petitions have some fundamental differences.
New Approach would tax medical marijuana at 4 percent of the retail price and put the revenue toward health care services for veterans. The Bradshaw amendment would tax retail medical marijuana sales at 15 percent and put the money toward an independent medical research institute, which Bradshaw himself would oversee. Bradshaw's ballot language also estimates that his proposal would generate about $66 million annually for Missouri in additional revenue.
The Bradshaw amendment calls for a nine-member board to draw up the medical marijuana regulations Missouri would use. New Approach leaves rule-making authority in the hands of the Department of Health and Senior Services, as is the common practice.
New Approach includes no overall caps on the number of marijuana cultivation or dispensary licenses that could be issued. By contrast, Bradshaw's amendment would limit the number of medical pot-growing permits to 50, with up to 400 more possibly issued for research purposes.
A third group, calling itself Better Way Missouri, aims to change Missouri's marijuana laws through the legislature.
Viets opposes this measure, noting that Missouri lawmakers have not legalized hemp growing, let alone marijuana.
"Any bill the Missouri General Assembly passes will stink," Viets said.
Since the "decriminalization debacle" of 2012, local marijuana advocates have focused on community involvement, said Trish Bertrand, executive director of Springfield NORML and a proponent of the New Approach initiative.
The Springfield City Council voted in 2012 to lower marijuana penalties – like Kansas City just did, and similar to decriminalization ordinances in Columbia and St. Louis – but did so mainly to avoid a costly public vote and repealed the ordinance soon afterward, the News-Leader previously reported.
This wasn't all bad, Bertrand said. "Cannabis became a subject you could talk about at the water cooler."
During a question-and-answer session, several people implored state NORML leaders to support marijuana advocacy efforts in Missouri's rural areas, such as Stone and Taney counties.
"It's not just the cities, you know," one woman said. "The outskirts, we want it, too."
One Greene County man, who identified himself only as Charles, took a more radical approach. He said he has cultivated a local marijuana garden to benefit his son, who has chronic pain, and doesn't profit from his agricultural exploits. He declined to provide his last name out of fear of being arrested or imprisoned.
Drawing a parallel to the American Revolution, Charles put a question to the NORML organizers: If all marijuana users and growers suddenly went public with their activities, wouldn't they outnumber any authorities who sought to crack down?
The NORML organizers, committed to their plan to ask Missouri voters what should be done, downplayed the idea of a marijuana revolution.
"There's a lot of appeal to civil disobedience, but the bottom line is, we've got to change these laws," Viets said.
The conference also featured a panel of people hoping to unseat Rep. Billy Long (Democrats John Farmer de la Torre and Vince Jennings, and Jim Evans, running as a Republican) and a discussion focused on the ways marijuana can help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
A contest of ideas and legal maneuvers is poised to ensue before Missouri has a verified medical marijuana initiative on a 2018 ballot. Viets noted that if New Approach and Bradshaw appear on the same ballot, whichever initiative gets the most votes will take precedence, and he and others were prepared for opposition from Missouri's prosecutors.
But, when the smoke starts to clear next November, Missouri may well allow people with qualifying illnesses to use marijuana as medicine.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Trying to put pot on ballot, Missouri NORML's cannabis conference comes to Springfield
Author: Will Schmitt
Contact: Contact Us | Springfield News-Leader
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: Springfield News-Leader
And the Show-Me State can benefit from missing the hits taken by states like California and Colorado with more progressive drug laws, cannabis activists say.
Marijuana activists from across Missouri gathered at The Library Center in south Springfield on Saturday for the fall cannabis conference of the Missouri chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. Organizers said it was the first time Springfield had hosted the event, at least in recent memory.
Springfield has not been on the map recently for news related to marijuana legalization, at least not when compared to Kansas City, which reduced penalties related to marijuana in April, and to St. Louis, where a city alderwoman proposes legalizing the growth, possession and sale of marijuana.
The Kansas City vote was "a miracle," said longtime Missouri marijuana organizer Dan Viets, a Columbia attorney who has worked for years to change state drug laws. He didn't think the measure would pass and was shocked that it not only succeeded but did so with nearly 75 percent of the vote.
"Nobody gets 75 percent," Viets said. "Motherhood and apple pie don't get 75 percent."
Such strong support may be higher than normal in Kansas City, where voters are more liberal compared to the rest of the state. But, members of a NORML panel working to legalize medical marijuana say they believe a majority of Missourians would support their initiative, given the option.
NORML is working to pass an amendment to the Missouri Constitution to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. This initiative, known as New Approach Missouri, has gathered about 60,000 out of the necessary 170,000 valid signatures, organizers say.
This pales in comparison to the claims of a rival medical marijuana movement based in Springfield that worries New Approach Missouri.
Brad Bradshaw, a Springfield attorney and physician, has been organizing signature-gathering efforts for his own medical marijuana initiative. Bradshaw's website claims his petition has garnered more than 100,000 total signatures.
While New Approach and Bradshaw seem to have similar goals, the two petitions have some fundamental differences.
New Approach would tax medical marijuana at 4 percent of the retail price and put the revenue toward health care services for veterans. The Bradshaw amendment would tax retail medical marijuana sales at 15 percent and put the money toward an independent medical research institute, which Bradshaw himself would oversee. Bradshaw's ballot language also estimates that his proposal would generate about $66 million annually for Missouri in additional revenue.
The Bradshaw amendment calls for a nine-member board to draw up the medical marijuana regulations Missouri would use. New Approach leaves rule-making authority in the hands of the Department of Health and Senior Services, as is the common practice.
New Approach includes no overall caps on the number of marijuana cultivation or dispensary licenses that could be issued. By contrast, Bradshaw's amendment would limit the number of medical pot-growing permits to 50, with up to 400 more possibly issued for research purposes.
A third group, calling itself Better Way Missouri, aims to change Missouri's marijuana laws through the legislature.
Viets opposes this measure, noting that Missouri lawmakers have not legalized hemp growing, let alone marijuana.
"Any bill the Missouri General Assembly passes will stink," Viets said.
Since the "decriminalization debacle" of 2012, local marijuana advocates have focused on community involvement, said Trish Bertrand, executive director of Springfield NORML and a proponent of the New Approach initiative.
The Springfield City Council voted in 2012 to lower marijuana penalties – like Kansas City just did, and similar to decriminalization ordinances in Columbia and St. Louis – but did so mainly to avoid a costly public vote and repealed the ordinance soon afterward, the News-Leader previously reported.
This wasn't all bad, Bertrand said. "Cannabis became a subject you could talk about at the water cooler."
During a question-and-answer session, several people implored state NORML leaders to support marijuana advocacy efforts in Missouri's rural areas, such as Stone and Taney counties.
"It's not just the cities, you know," one woman said. "The outskirts, we want it, too."
One Greene County man, who identified himself only as Charles, took a more radical approach. He said he has cultivated a local marijuana garden to benefit his son, who has chronic pain, and doesn't profit from his agricultural exploits. He declined to provide his last name out of fear of being arrested or imprisoned.
Drawing a parallel to the American Revolution, Charles put a question to the NORML organizers: If all marijuana users and growers suddenly went public with their activities, wouldn't they outnumber any authorities who sought to crack down?
The NORML organizers, committed to their plan to ask Missouri voters what should be done, downplayed the idea of a marijuana revolution.
"There's a lot of appeal to civil disobedience, but the bottom line is, we've got to change these laws," Viets said.
The conference also featured a panel of people hoping to unseat Rep. Billy Long (Democrats John Farmer de la Torre and Vince Jennings, and Jim Evans, running as a Republican) and a discussion focused on the ways marijuana can help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
A contest of ideas and legal maneuvers is poised to ensue before Missouri has a verified medical marijuana initiative on a 2018 ballot. Viets noted that if New Approach and Bradshaw appear on the same ballot, whichever initiative gets the most votes will take precedence, and he and others were prepared for opposition from Missouri's prosecutors.
But, when the smoke starts to clear next November, Missouri may well allow people with qualifying illnesses to use marijuana as medicine.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Trying to put pot on ballot, Missouri NORML's cannabis conference comes to Springfield
Author: Will Schmitt
Contact: Contact Us | Springfield News-Leader
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: Springfield News-Leader
