KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – When the news broke this week that a marijuana legalization amendment will be on the November ballot in Missouri, not everyone was excited. The most vocal opposition is among those in favor of legalization but who contend the ballot measure is the wrong way to make that happen.
The November ballot initiative, known as Legal Missouri 2022 or Amendment 3, would create an amendment to the state constitution to legalize and regulate the cultivation, sale, possession and consumption of cannabis for people aged 21 and older. A similar amendment creating a legal medical marijuana trade passed at the polls in 2018.
It clearly appeals to people who celebrate the legal access to cannabis without a medical card and the tax revenue.
But legalization activist Tim Gilio, who founded an organization called Missouri Marijuana Legalization Movement a decade ago, argues the amendment also brings unfair benefit to business owners who’ve already been reaping the financial rewards with the medical program.
“These guys who’ve been making millions off of this, out of the dispensaries and the grow facilities, are the ones who put the recreational forward,” Gilio said.
He and Missouri State Representative Ashley Bland Manlove, a Democrat who represents a portion of Kansas City, supported a house bill on legalization that had bi-partisan support but ultimately failed to pass this year.
“80% of the licenses will go to people who are already in it,” said Manlove….
