Recreational weed is on Missouri’s ballot. Your questions about Amendment 3, answered

Missouri voters will get to vote on whether to legalize adult recreational marijuana on November 8 with a ballot question called Amendment 3.

Although legalizing recreational weed is one of the biggest head turners, the upcoming ballot question touches on a lot more than legally buying a pre-rolled joint.

The initiative also includes measures for automatic expungement for people who have nonviolent weed-related crimes, protections for medical marijuana users, taxing the sale of marijuana and more.

The ballot initiative was launched by Legal Missouri 2022, a group that’s led by some of those who pushed for the 2018 amendment that legalized medical marijuana in the state and is backed by much of Missouri’s medical marijuana industry.

In August, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft certified 214,000 signatures, securing the marijuana ballot question for the November 8 election.

Here’s what else you need to know about the upcoming vote and what it means for the state.

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What is Amendment 3 on the Missouri ballot?

On November 8, voters will be asked to vote on whether to amend the Missouri Constitution to remove bans on marijuana sales, consumption and manufacturing for adults over 21 years old. If passed, the vote would legalize recreational use of weed and would put in place a number of measures that would shape and regulate the state’s marijuana industry.

If the majority of people do vote yes on that ballot question, called Amendment 3, the entire petition would be effective starting December 8, 2022, which would make Missouri the 20th state to legalize recreational weed use.

What does it mean that it’s a change to the state’s constitution?

The recreational marijuana proposal is an amendment to the Missouri Constitution. Once approved, it can only be changed or repealed by another statewide vote.

Because changing the constitution is a difficult process, it may be hard to modify the recreational marijuana program once it’s approved.

The amendment allows the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services some discretion over how the program is administered and the Missouri General Assembly would likely have some ability to make changes. But any alterations would have to be in line with the amendment, which would limit what can be done.

What is the language of Amendment 3 on the ballot?

The petition outlining everything that would change with the vote is 38 pages long. There’s still a lot that we don’t know about in terms of what impact the program would have, but we are continuing to report. You can read the full petition here if you’d like.

The full petition is way too long to put on a ballot, so this is the exact text that voters will see when they go to the polls::

“Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• Remove state prohibitions on purchasing, possessing, consuming, using, delivering, manufacturing and selling marijunana for personal use for adults over the age of twenty-one;

• require a registration care for personal cultivation with prescribed limits;

• allow persons with certain marijunana-related non-violent offenses to petition for release from incarceration or parole and probation and have records expunged;

• establish a lottery selection process to award licenses and certificates;

• issue equally distributed licenses to each congressional district; and

• impose a six percent tax on the retail price of marijuana to benefit various programs?

State governmental entities estimate initial costs of $3.1 million, initial revenues of at least $7.9 million, annual costs of 5.5 million, and annual revenue of at least $40.8 million. Local governments are estimated to have annual costs of at least $35,000 and annual revenues of at least 13.8 million.”

What would Amendment 3 change?

Legalize recreational marijuana

The amendment would remove the state’s ban on marijuana sales, consumption and manufacturing for people who are 21 years of age or older. Medical marijuana was legalized in 2018, but this measure would allow for anyone of age to partake in the substance.

Expungement for people with weed charges

The initiative also includes automatic expungement for many people who have nonviolent weed-related crimes on their record. This means if someone does have a nonviolent weed charge, they won’t have to petition for their crimes to be expunged, they’ll ideally just be removed from their record straight away.

State and local government weed taxes

In addition to legalizing weed, the state would also be able to tax marijuana sales. The state would be able to impose a 6% tax on the retail price of weed, and local governments can additionally tax the sale of weed up to 3%.

On the state level, those taxes can rake in at least $40.8 million in revenue a year, and local governments could see upwards of $13.8 million in revenue a year.

Create a licensing process

The amendment would establish the rules around who can get a license to sell marijuana as part of the state’s recreational program.

Those who currently have a license to sell medical marijuana would have a right to get a recreational license too. Beyond that, the amendment would create a “micro-licensing” program for people and businesses to apply for. Those would be granted through a lottery process, and there are only a certain number of licenses available in each congressional district.

An expanded medical marijuana industry

Medical marijuana was legalized in Missouri in 2018 by nearly two-thirds of voters. The program was backed by the same groups that have pushed for the current ballot initiative.

The amendment would lengthen the amount of time that medical marijuana cards issued by the Department of Health and Senior Services are good for. Those cards are good for one year, but if the initiative passes, they would be good for three years. The same would be true for patient cultivation cards, which allow patients to grow their own weed at home.

The petition would also allow nurse practitioners and physicians to certify people for the medical marijuana program. Currently, the DHSS has to certify patients but this way a private doctor or nurse practitioner can recommend the program to the patient.

There would also be added protections for patients who use medical marijuana but are concerned about keeping their job or custody of their kids. If this amendment is added to the state’s constitution, having a medical marijuana card cannot be used against patients.

“We thought these are some important changes that we need to make sure that patients are protected. They shouldn’t be penalized by any of these processes simply for using what they need medically,” Payne said.

Allow people to grow their own marijuana plants

Recreational marijuana users would be able to register for a cultivation card, which would allow them to grow up to six flowering marijuana plants, six nonflowering marijuana plants and six clones in their private residence, according to DHSS. The plants also cannot be visible from a public space and must be kept in a locked space or the owner could be fined.

Currently, medical marijuana patients can cultivate their own weed if they have a cultivation card issued by the state. Those cards are valid for a year at a time, but if the petition passes they would be valid for three years at a time.The cost of cultivation cards would also be reduced to $50. They currently cost $100.

Who would be able to buy and use weed?

People who are 21 years and older would be able to buy and use marijuana recreationally.

People who are 18 years old and older with a DHSS-issued medical marijuana card would also be able to purchase marijuana from medical dispensaries.

Who would be able to sell marijuana?

Businesses would need a state license in order to sell, cultivate or manufacture weed. This would be the only legal route to sell weed, if the amendment is added to the state constitution.

Current medical marijuana businesses will have the first shot at getting recreational licenses. Beyond that, the state has the power to cap the number of licenses it grants, and it’s likely that licenses for new businesses entering the market will be extremely limited.

The amendment also creates a “micro-license” program for smaller players to enter the market. The state would only need to grant six of these micro-licenses in each congressional district when the program launches at first.

If passed, how long would it take before you can apply for a license to sell?

If passed, the effective date of the amendment is exactly 30 days after the vote, so the entire petition would be effective by December 8. However, it might take a bit longer until people can buy and sell weed recreationally.

If the amendment passes, the health department must make license applications for smaller businesses available within 180 days after December 8. The department has to start accepting applications within 270 days after.

Existing, large-scale medical marijuana businesses that actually cultivate, manufacture and distribute weed can start submitting requests for comprehensive licenses (which expands their business to cultivating and distributing for recreational weed) as soon as December 8. The health department has to start awarding those requests within 60 days of receipt.

For businesses that are interested in starting a new comprehensive marijuana facility from scratch for the purpose of cultivating or manufacturing non-medical weed, the process of getting license and approval could take at least a year, according to Payne.

What would it mean for people with past weed-related charges?

In order to qualify to sell or manufacture weed, business owners cannot plead guilty or be found guilty of a felony offense, with exceptions for:

• Marijuana charges (unless the felony was for providing weed to a minor)

• A nonviolent offense that was more than five years ago and that the person was not incarcerated for.

• The person was released from probation or parole more than five years ago and has not been convicted of any felony offenses since.

The petition also calls for automatic expungement for nonviolent marijuana charges.

Expunging a record means that the court would seal a criminal charge so it is no longer public. However, the record can still be unsealed with a court order, according to the Missouri Bar.

So, any person who is not currently incarcerated but has a nonviolent marijuana charge, with the exception of driving under the influence and selling weed to minors, would have their record reviewed and expunged by the courts within six months after December 8. The process might take longer for some, since cases would be reviewed based on the severity of the case. For example, less severe cases would be expunged first, according to Payne.

Sealing those records could affect thousands of people’s access to employment, housing and wages. Expungement would not apply to people with charges of violent crimes, or whose offenses involved distribution to a minor or driving under the influence of marijuana.

Other states that have automatic expungement on certain marjiuana charges include California, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.

What about people who are currently in jail or prison for marijuana?

People who are still incarcerated would not automatically have their charges dropped or expunged if the petition passes. However, people with nonviolent charges would be able to petition to be released from jail or be removed from parole and probation and have their records expunged.

“The Department of Corrections is going to basically require that there’ll be some kind of paperwork that they process in order to let somebody out. That’s the only way,” Payne said.

What if the charge was considered a violent crime?

If a person does have a violent charge against them, they would be able to buy weed as much as they want, but they won’t be able to start a licensed marijuana business.

If they are in jail with a violent marijuana charge, they likely won’t be able to successfully petition for an early release or to be removed from probation. But if the person committed a violent crime, while in possession of marijuana, it’s likely that that marijuana charge would still be expunged once they are released from jail, according to Payne.

What are the points of tension?

Some criminal justice reform activists still have concerns about the ballot initiative—even with the expungement clause—because it enshrines in the state constitution a civil penalty provision that allows for fines of up to $100 for smoking marijuana in public.

Other critics are concerned about the amendment’s licensing process restricting many new businesses from entering the market with limited licenses available, giving what they say an unfair advantage to the current businesses that dominate the state’s medical marijuana industry.

What don’t we know yet?

There are still plenty of things we don’t know yet about what exactly this vote would mean. We are continuing to report on it and will update this FAQ and write additional stories to answer as many questions as we can.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that smoking marijuana in public would be a civil rather than criminal offense under the proposed amendment.

If you have questions, you can email kcq@kcstar.com, or fill out the form below.