July GSTL NORML Chapter Meeting

Join us Monday, July 9, 2018 at 7:00 pm for our monthly chapter meeting. The summer heat has ignited cannabis passion as a slew of cannabis-related laws and events nationwide push the US closer to a tipping point for cannabis legalization. We'll discuss all the details and the latest information about the New Approach Missouri ballot initiative. We may get an inside look at Arkansas' political climate as Damien Johnson returns from signature gathering duties in “The Natural State.” Join us for lively discussion on cannabis legalization topics in Missouri.

Event: July 2018 Greater St. Louis NORML Chapter Meeting
Address: CJ Muggs Webster (Webster Groves, MO), 101 W Lockwood Ave, Webster Groves, MO 63119
Date: Monday, July 9, 2018
Time: Starts at 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Cost: FREE. (Donations accepted.) Everyone is invited.

Missouri Cannabis Spring Conference Update

Attendees at the Missouri Cannabis Spring Conference June 15 – 16 last month in St. Charles, MO were treated to a full slate of expert speakers providing valuable insight into legalization in Missouri and nationwide.

An energetic medical marijuana panel discussion helped the audience understand what effect legalization will have on patients' suffering, not only to treat their medical conditions, but the freedom to stop taking legal pharmaceuticals prescribed to treat them.

“YES on 2! NO on 3.” Michael Wolff, J.D., former Missouri Supreme Court Justice, past St. Louis University Law School Dean and Professor Emeritus provided the audience with the proposed ballot language and expected ballot order for all marijuana related petitions awaiting certification. New Approach Missouri (NAM) was the first cannabis petition to be submitted to the Missouri Secretary of State and earned the top spot for cannabis initiatives on the ballot in the #2 position. NAM submitted their petition just hours before the Bradshaw amendment which will be assigned the #3 position when certified.

Wolff supports NAM as amendment 2, but predicts that if the “Cures for Cancer” Bradshaw #3 amendment is passed by voters, lawsuits would be filed to prevent the law from being enacted. Amendment 3 establishes an “unelected” government within a government that has far-reaching powers, yet is unaccountable to Missouri voters. Lawsuits against the amendment 3 would effectively kill medical marijuana in Missouri for years to come. Amendment 3 would also forbid “retail” adult use sales (i.e. recreational) of non-medical cannabis. The NAM amendment 2 would not impose any future retail cannabis sales restrictions if a state statute or voter initiative were passed.

The keynote speaker, Paul Armentano, national Deputy Director of NORML, delighted the audience with his expertise on the science of medical marijuana. Armentano exclaimed, “we have plenty of studies,” that dispute the misinformation and prohibitionist rhetoric spread by anti-cannabis, anti-legalization organizations including Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), police officers' & sheriffs' associations, private prison lobbyists, and prohibitionist politicians. He thinks that many policymakers are willfully ignorant when they say “we need more studies on marijuana.” The clear and compelling evidence has been published and is “freely available,” says Armentano. “You just have to look” for it.

Armentano's expert analysis of current cannabis research indicates a huge disparity in the thousands and thousands of certified research studies showing support of marijuana's high safety and medicinal use profile when compared to the number of studies in the low hundreds made on some of the most dangerous legal pharmaceuticals approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).

Armentano expressed frustration that prohibitionists representing SAM and other organizations ignore positive research results and instead attack the researchers' design and scope. Armentano claims an effective counter measure to stop research criticism is a demand to “show me the data.” Indeed, Armentano gave the audience all the data they needed in his informative presentation.

Summer of Cannabis

The hard work of cannabis activists, supporters and enthusiasts is paying off in the summer of 2018. Cannabis laws are changing in the US and globally:

Oklahoma:

State Question 788 for Medical Marijuana passed with a 57% majority on June 26, 2018. The campaign had no major funding from nationwide cannabis advocacy organizations. Grass root activists were responsible for the victory.

Vermont:

Adult use of cannabis became law on July 1, 2018 with possession of up to an ounce and cultivation of six plants. No retail system is in place yet.

Massachusetts:

July 1, 2018 the state entered into fully legal status. Possession: 1 ounce. Cultivation: up to six plants.

Michigan

A Republican controlled House and Senate could not get the votes to modify the people's initiative by the legal deadline which automatically sends the unmodified adult use initiative by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol to the polls on November 6, 2018.

Missouri:

Industrial hemp law becomes effective on August 28, 2018. Cultivation: minimum 10 acres up to 40 acres.

Canada:

Cannabis legalization passed the legislature, was signed by the Prime Minister on June 19, 2018 and becomes law on October 17, 2018. Possession of dried flower is legal up to 30 grams. Cultivation of up to four plants per household is legal.

FDA:

On June 25, 2018 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved EPIDIOLEX® (cannabidiol) oral solution for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) or Dravet syndrome. EPIDIOLEX is the first prescription pharmaceutical of plant-derived cannabidiol (CBD). The Drug Enforcement Administration must now rule on the Schedule I classification of cannabidiol in 90 days.

Upcoming Dates and Events

August 1, 2018 Ballot Certification – The Missouri Secretary of State is expected to issue his finding on August 1, 2018 on the validity of signatures submitted by New Approach Missouri to qualify for the fall ballot. Two other Marijuana related measures may also be certified allowing Missourians multiple choices to vote for legalization of medicinal marijuana on November 6, 2018.

August 28, 2018 – Missouri HB 2034, the Industrial Hemp Law will be enacted and hemp will become legal once again in Missouri. The growing season will be finished for 2018, but 2019 may see plantings of the first hemp crop.

August 6, 2018 – The August Greater St. Louis NORML board meeting will be held on August 6, 2018, 7:00 pm at Irish Corner Pub, 1900 Cherokee St., St. Louis, MO 63118.

August 13, 2018 – General Chapter Meeting will be held at 7:00 pm in the meeting room of CJ Muggs Webster (Webster Groves, MO), 101 W Lockwood Ave, Webster Groves, MO 63119.