A bipartisan group of lawmakers and activists are calling for Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to include marijuana legalization on the agenda of the legislature’s upcoming special session.
The group also announced the launch of a campaign aimed at defeating a marijuana legalization constitutional amendment set to appear on the November ballot.
The legislature is set to return to the Capitol on Sept. 14 to debate a $700 million tax cut plan laid out by the governor.
“Rather than settle for an ill-suited and monopolistic program shoehorned into our (state) constitution, the Missouri General Assembly has an unique opportunity to consider legislation that would legalize cannabis in a truly free market fashion,” said state Rep. Tony Lovasco, R-O’Fallon.
At issue is disagreement between advocates for marijuana legalization over how to best implement the policy in Missouri.
A bill to legalize recreational marijuana stalled earlier this year in the Missouri House after intense lobbying pressure from the medical marijuana industry. Instead, the industry backed an initiative petition campaign to put its preferred version of legalization on the November ballot.
Parson, who has in the past received massive campaign support from the medical marijuana industry, has publicly decried the legalization amendment, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 3. The…
