Some have expressed a desire to see the original, nine points that makes up the Cannabis Restoration initiative, free from the legal jargon that was required to get it on the ballot.
Here in Missouri, in order to remove lines from our state Constitution, it is required to list what is being removed in it’s entirety within the initiative petition. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s the law. It also forces our petitioners to, instead of carrying a single sheet, double-sided, now have to carry four pages (double-sided, 8 1/2 x 14) for each county that they collect a signature for. Understand, we have 114 counties in Missouri. Fortunately, they don’t have to carry every county every time they go out.
* * * * * * * *
Cannabis Restoration
Be it resolved by the people of the state of Missouri that the Constitution be amended:
This measure amends Article XIV Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution by deleting all matters within the enclosed brackets and adding all of the underlined matters as required pursuant to Section 116.050 RSMo.
Section 1. Missouri Cannabis Restoration and Protection
1. Clarification as a substance.
Cannabis shall immediately be removed from the Missouri Revised Statutes list of controlled substances and shall no longer be listed among Missouri’s drug schedules. Cannabis shall hence forth be considered a food and not a controlled substance or a drug, by Missouri law, by the passage of this initiative.
2. Definitions.
(a) “Controlled Substance List”, or “CSL” refers to Missouri’s list of controlled substances as pertains to Missouri Statutes.
(b) “Cannabis” and “Cannabis hemp” refer to Cannabis, marihuana, marijuana, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis sativa L., Cannabis Americana, Cannabis Gigantea, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis, or any variety of Cannabis, including any derivative, concentrate, extract, flower, leaf, particle, preparation, resin, root, salt, seed, stalk, stem, or any product thereof.
(c) “Medical Cannabis” refers to Cannabis used to prevent or to treat a medical condition.
(d) “Personal use” refers to the personal use or consumption of Cannabis.
(e) “Cannabis accessories” means any equipment, products, or materials of any kind that are used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, or containing Cannabis, or for ingesting, inhaling, vaporizing, smoking or otherwise introducing Cannabis into and/or onto the human body.
(f) “Establishment” refers to a cultivation facility, a testing facility, a product manufacturing facility, or a retail store, or other entity that cultivates, prepares, manufactures, packages, transports or sells food products and/or accessories.
3. Personal and Commercial.
The following acts are not unlawful and shall not be an offense under Missouri law:
(a) Possession and/or consumption of Cannabis for personal or medical use.
(b) Cultivating Cannabis for personal or medical use.
(c) Cultivation, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, packaging, distributing, transferring, displaying or possessing Cannabis, Cannabis accessories, and Cannabis products for commercial purposes, provided the person has current applicable licensing to operate a commercial establishment. No special licensing will be required beyond that which is applicable for the cultivating, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, transferal, display or possession of any non-toxic food or food product.
(d) Providing Cannabis, Cannabis accessories, and Cannabis products for sale to consumers.
(e) Leasing or otherwise allowing the use of property owned, occupied or controlled by any person, corporation or other entity for any of the activities conducted lawfully in accordance with paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subsection.
(f) No one shall be denied housing solely based on their use of Cannabis.
(g) No one shall be denied employment solely based on their use of Cannabis.
(h) The use and/or possession of Cannabis shall in no way impede one’s legal right to possess a firearm.
4. Medical.
Medical Cannabis shall be available to patients without taxation who have a physician’s recommendation for its use.
(a) All patients engaged in Cannabis therapy shall be afforded the same rights and privileges afforded to any patient treated through conventional therapeutic means, whether or not under the care of a physician.
(b) Licensed physicians shall not be penalized for, nor restricted from recommending and/or providing Cannabis for medical purposes to any person under their care.
(c) Veterinarians shall not be penalized nor restricted from recommending and/or providing Cannabis for medical purposes for any creature under their care.
(d) Any individual who is a Cannabis patient in another state shall be granted the same rights and privileges as a legal Missouri Cannabis patient.
(e) Medical care, including organ transplants, shall not be restricted in any way based on a person’s use of Cannabis.
5. Zoning.
Cannabis farmers, manufacturers, processors, and distributors shall not be subject to any special zoning requirement, licensing fee that is excessive, discriminatory, prohibitive, or in any way contrary to that which is relative to any other commercial or agricultural farmer, manufacturer, processor or distributor.
6. Law Enforcement and the Courts.
Missouri’s law enforcement and its courts shall protect Cannabis users and their property without discrimination, and with the same effort afforded to every citizen of Missouri and our nation.
(a) The use and/or possession of Cannabis shall not be grounds for issuing a “Driving under the influence” (DUI) stop, charge, arrest or fine(s) when operating or a passenger of a motor vehicle. Stops, charges, fines and arrests shall be the product of visible and/or previously proven non-Cannabis infractions of Missouri law; actual crime, not assumed or coerced.
(b) No Missouri law enforcement personnel or state funds shall be used to assist or aid in the enforcement of federal Cannabis laws involving acts which are no longer illegal in the State of Missouri under this amendment.
(c) Asset or Civil Forfeiture shall no longer be used in the state of Missouri through association with Cannabis, Cannabis cultivation, it’s use and/or possession, in any way.
(d) Upon the passage of this Act, all persons incarcerated or under supervision of the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole for non-violent, Cannabis-only offenses, which are no longer illegal in the State of Missouri under this Act, shall be immediately released.
(e) Within 60 days of the passage of this Act, a legal document shall be developed and made available to the public ordering the immediate destruction of all Cannabis-related non-violent civil and criminal records in Missouri and for any offense covered by this amendment which is no longer illegal in the State of Missouri under this Act. This document shall be distributed to all pertinent parties throughout the state.
(f) Within 60 days, Missouri’s Courts shall order the immediate expungement of civil and criminal records pertaining to all non-violent Cannabis only offenses which are no longer illegal in the State of Missouri under this Act.
7. Regarding Federal Law.
Pursuant to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the people of Missouri hereby repudiate and challenge federal Cannabis prohibitions that conflict with this Act.
8. Existing Local, State and Federal Law.
All provisions of this section shall supersede conflicting city, county, state or federal statutory, local charter, ordinance, or resolution.
9. Implementation.
The dictates of this Initiative, unless otherwise indicated by this initiative, shall be implemented no later than January 31st, 2023.
* * * * * * * *
Follow this link for my “line-by-line” explanation.
Cannabis is nontoxic. Cannabis is food. Cannabis is the single most important medicine of the 21st century.
