UPDATE: April 16, 2020 – The initiative campaign to put an adult use question on the November 2020 ballot has ended because of Covid-19 virus concerns. Missouri voters will have another chance in the 2022 election cycle.
Columbia, MO – The status of the effort to legalize adult use of marijuana in Missouri this year is unclear. No official decision has yet been made regarding whether to suspend the campaign. If we do so, it is likely we will return to pursue this goal in 2022, wrote Dan Viets, Board Chair for Missourians for a New Approach in a communication to NORML affiliate chapters in Missouri.
It is, of course, virtually impossible to effectively gather signatures on petitions given the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Gatherings of more than a very few people in any one place have been banned. Almost all colleges and universities have switched to online teaching. No large meetings, conferences, or other gatherings are taking place.
We should know within a very short time whether the campaign will be continuing this year or not. We will notify you as soon as we have further information.
We have also been forced to cancel the Spring 2020 Missouri NORML Conference which was set to take place on Saturday, April 4, at the University of Missouri in Columbia. The City of Columbia has banned meetings of more than 50 people. The University of Missouri has cancelled all events taking place on campus until further notice.
We are tentatively planning the Fall 2020 MO NORML State Conference to take place on Saturday, October 10, 2020, at the University of Missouri in Columbia. NORML founder Keith Stroup has agreed that he will do his best to attend our event whenever it takes place.
In the meantime, we will continue to fight for the rights of medical marijuana patients and other marijuana consumers in the Missouri General Assembly and in the implementation of Missouri’s medical marijuana law, Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution. Despite the Corona virus, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says dispensaries will be opening across Missouri within the next few months!
At this time, it is not clear when or how the Missouri General Assembly is going to continue to function this year. The legislature has been on Spring Break this week. The Missouri Senate adjourned one week early prior to Spring Break.
The latest news indicates that the legislature may reconvene on a very limited basis on Monday, March 30. Frankly, it is probably in our best interest if they do as little work as possible.
A bill passed recently by the Missouri Senate, SB 764, contains a provision which would eliminate the option of telehealth visits to qualify as a medical marijuana patient in our state. This is a very bad idea.
Especially in this time of crisis, it is more important than ever that Missourians have the option to access healthcare, including medical marijuana, by video connection to a physician. There is absolutely no legitimate reason why this option should be denied.
A similar provision was included in the first draft of HB 2496. That version was actually received first-round approval by the House of Representatives, but, in a very unusual move, the bill was then sent back to Committee before a final vote of approval. The Committee removed the provision banning telehealth visits for medical marijuana and the House version of that bill, which finally passed, does not contain it.
It is very important that we all contact our state Senator and state Representative and urge them not to support any effort to end telehealth visits for Missourians who need medical marijuana access.
We are still very tentatively planning our third 2020 Missouri NORML Lobby Day in Jefferson City for Wednesday, April 22. If the legislature is back in session and if visits to the Capitol are allowed by that time, we will gather at 11:00 a.m. in Hearing Room 2 in the lower level of the Missouri Capitol Building. We will meet with supportive legislators there and then proceed to lobby in opposition to the telehealth ban as well as in favor of several good bills which were filed this year.
Missouri NORML is proud of the fact that we persuaded Rep. Wiley Price of St. Louis to file HB 2674, protecting the rights of medical marijuana patients to be free from discrimination in public and private employment and HB 2715, protecting the rights of medical marijuana patients to be free from discrimination in family courts of our state. While the odds of these bills passing this year may be slim, we are laying the foundation for progress on these issues in the near future!
NORML has been working to legalize marijuana for 50 years! Missouri NORML has been part of that fight for nearly as long. Missouri NORML played a major role in legalizing medical marijuana in our state in 2018.
We need your help. Please contact and join the nearest NORML chapter. Please make a pledge of financial support. You can support Greater St. Louis NORML here with your donation. Or, go to monorml.org and make a monthly contribution of as much as you can afford.
Reported by Dan Viets, Missouri NORML Coordinator, Missourians For A New Approach Advisory Board Chair