The ACLU of Missouri is the latest legal organization to endorse Legal Missouri 2022, the citizens’ ballot initiative that ties the legalization of adult-use marijuana to an automatic expungement provision for most prior, non-violent marijuana offenses.
“To combat the racial disparities rampant in marijuana-related arrests, our organization remains committed to opposing laws which criminalize adult use of marijuana and supporting automatic expungement of marijuana-related offenses,” said Luz María Henríquez, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri.
A 2020 ACLU report found that Black Missourians are 2.6 times more likely than whites in the state to be arrested for marijuana possession —despite comparable national marijuana usage rates. In some Missouri counties, the disparity is a much as 10-to-1.
In 2018, marijuana possession accounted for more than 50 percent of all drug arrests in Missouri. Of the nearly 21,000 marijuana arrests here that year, the vast majority were for simple possession of very small amounts.
However, a coalition of activist organizations and members of law enforcement today slammed the ACLU’s endorsement of Legal Missouri 2022 ballot initiative campaign, citing the disparate and inequitable approach in the proposal to expungement of marijuana offenses, the proposed creation of Constitutional marijuana law enforcement and possession offenses, and the inequitable approach to licensing and market access.
“The LM22 initiative…
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The ACLU of Missouri is the latest legal organization to endorse Legal Missouri 2022, the citizens’ ballot initiative that ties the legalization of adult-use marijuana to an automatic expungement provision for most prior, non-violent marijuana offenses.
“To combat the racial disparities rampant in marijuana-related arrests, our organization remains committed to opposing laws which criminalize adult use of marijuana and supporting automatic expungement of marijuana-related offenses,” said Luz María Henríquez, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri.
A 2020 ACLU report found that Black Missourians are 2.6 times more likely than whites in the state to be arrested for marijuana possession —despite comparable national marijuana usage rates. In some Missouri counties, the disparity is a much as 10-to-1.
In 2018, marijuana possession accounted for more than 50 percent of all drug arrests in Missouri. Of the nearly 21,000 marijuana arrests here that year, the vast majority were for simple possession of very small amounts.
However, a coalition of activist organizations and members of law enforcement today slammed the ACLU’s endorsement of Legal Missouri 2022 ballot initiative campaign, citing the disparate and inequitable approach in the proposal to expungement of marijuana offenses, the proposed creation of Constitutional marijuana law enforcement and possession offenses, and the inequitable approach to licensing and market access.
“The LM22 initiative…
