Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker listens to arguments during a Sept. 8, 2022, hearing in a lawsuit over an initiative petition to legalize recreational marijuana (pool photo courtesy of Emily Manley/Nexstar Media Group).
The unprecedented steps Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft took to verify signatures to place a marijuana legalization initiative petition on the ballot were outside the scope of his authority, attorneys for an anti-drug activist argued Thursday.
Cole County Judge Cotton Walker faces a Sept. 13 deadline to decide whether an initiative petition to legalize marijuana for those 21 and older should appear on the November ballot.
On Thursday, Walker heard arguments in a lawsuit filed last month by Joy Sweeney, deputy director of training, technical assistance and community outreach for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, a group of community coalitions that aim to prevent substance use and abuse.
During testimony Thursday, Ashcroft’s director of elections said the process used to certify signatures for the marijuana proposal was different than any previous initiative petition, and that local election authorities were not notified that the secretary of state was overruling their work.
Sweeney’s attorneys alleged that if the secretary of state’s office hadn’t taken these unprecedented steps the…
