Sunday Poll: Should Missouri Wait & See Before Considering Legalizing Recreational Use of Marijuana?
The group that backed the successful medical marijuana constitutional amendment in 2018 is looking for a repeat in November 2020. New Approach Missouri plans to gather signatures to place a measure on the November 2020 ballot for legalization of marijuana for recreational use.
New Approach’s petition would legalize adult use of marijuana for those 21 or older.
The state would tax sales at 15%, with the proceeds going to veterans, highways and drug addiction treatment.
People with marijuana convictions would also be able to apply for sentence reductions and conviction expungement. The petition would require local voter approval to ban dispensaries.
Fiscal analyses of the proposal estimate the program would generate between $93 million and $155 million for state coffers annually.
Running the program would cost the state $21 million initially and then $6 million a year. (Post-Dispatch)
Though the state has awarded licenses for medical marijuana businesses, actual sales won’t begin until the summer.
Today’s poll assumes they gather the required signatures in time.
This poll will close at 8pm tonight.
— Steve Patterson