SPRINGFIELD, MO — Voters will not have the opportunity this November to decide on a proposed statewide proposition to permit the physician-supervised use of marijuana.
A Cole County Circuit Judge has upheld a decision by St. Louis election officials to disqualify thousands of petition signatures because voters had mistakenly signed forms indicating that they resided in a county other than where they lived.
The measure, sponsored by New Approach Missouri, sought to authorize qualified patients to possess, cultivate, and/or obtain cannabis through a licensed system of dispensaries.
Polling indicated that over 60 percent of voters backed the proposal.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Jason Kander called on lawmakers to move swiftly to enact similar legislation:
“After yesterday’s Court ruling, the initiative petition related to legalizing marijuana for medical purposes will not be on the ballot in November. Local election authorities from across the state did their due diligence verifying and counting the signatures, and as the Court agreed, the initiative petition fell just short.
While supporters of this important proposal can try to put it on the ballot again in two years, I believe it is time for the state legislature to step up. The Missouri General Assembly should pass legislation to allow medical marijuana so Missouri families that could greatly benefit from it don’t have to watch their loved ones continue suffering. If the legislature is not willing to do that, they should at least put the measure on the ballot themselves in 2018 to give Missouri voters the opportunity to decide on this issue.”
Voters in Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota will vote on medical use measures on Election Day. Voters in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada will also vote this November on initiatives legalizing the adult use of marijuana.
A summary of 2016 ballot measures and their status is available online from NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Tags: Election 2016, Jason Kander, Missouri, Missouri medical marijuana, New Approach Missouri