Article Author:
Associated Press
Star of Kansas City. August 15, 2022.
Editorial: Missourians will soon vote for recreational marijuana. Do politicians overthrow them?
Missourians learned last week that a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana use for those 21 and older will be on statewide ballots this fall. Opponents of the proposed referendum launched attacks almost immediately, and on that signal, including at least one Republican congressman of hers.
"All we're doing is creating new criminal penalties for marijuana," said Rep. Ron Hicks, a Defiance Republican at his NPR affiliate in St. Louis. , adding that the fix would lead to a monopoly. in the marijuana industry.
Before making any hasty decisions, let's give the public a chance to dig a little deeper into the initiative on page 38. State legislators given the opportunity to take the issue seriously have repeatedly voiced their opposition.
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced Tuesday that a petition by the Missouri Department of Justice22 to legalize recreational marijuana has gained enough signatures for a statewide vote. . The bill, which would legalize recreational cannabis use by adults over the age of 21, is scheduled to be submitted as Amendment 3 on November 8.
This initiative includes measures that have the potential to bring many benefits, primarily by ending the futile prosecution of petty possession offences. Those already convicted of non-violent marijuana offenses may have their records expunged. It also allowed anyone of legal age to purchase and grow plants, with certain restrictions.
We are all in favor of giving the public a chance to address this issue directly. This is not what Congress does.
In the last Congress, Hicks' Pro-Marijuana Bill stalled in the State Capitol, where Republican-majority lawmakers refused to approve recreational marijuana use on a daily basis.
Hicks told the radio station that he wants another crack in the legislative route. Out of state and not the biggest lobbyist in our state. ''
It's the brand. Republican lawmakers like Hicks like to tell Missourians what's best for them. Republicans foolishly fought and lost a voter-approved referendum on Medicaid expansion all the way to the state Supreme Court. Voters will have to decide the merits of recreational cannabis proposals, not politicians and judges who have resisted the trend many other states have followed.
We are not discussing full legalization of cannabis for adult use. For now, I reserve judgment on this issue until later in the fall, when I will thoroughly examine the pros and cons of this petition.
But the initiative includes new state revenue and judicial reforms. It can be seen that According to budget estimates, Missouri will collect tens of millions of dollars annually from state taxes on retail sales of marijuana.
Voters should carefully consider how the initiative places limits on business licenses and be skeptical about the impact of well-funded out-of-state marijuana businesses.
But Missouri legislators who oppose the bill should resign. If voters oppose the amendment, be sure to implement a comprehensive plan that meets the needs of business owners and consumers while protecting state interests.
Based on recent changes in views on the decriminalization of cannabis, we pushed for a statewide vote on recreational cannabis. In 2018, Missouri overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana legalization, making her the 33rd state to do so. Since then, five other states have approved pot use for some form of medical reason. shown to support.
Commercialization of the marijuana industry is a slippery slope. Substance abuse counselors and others have expressed reasonable concern about the impact of marijuana decriminalization on the use of other, more dangerous drugs. While these concerns need careful consideration, recreational pots are legal in 19 other states, including Illinois and Colorado.
Now it's Missouri's turn to join in legalizing marijuana — without legislative intervention.
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Post dispatch in St. Louis. August 14, 2022.
Editorial: Calling on other states to help Missouri rape victims should highlight Republican atrocities here
leading to: Missouri Democrats recently reached out to officials in Illinois and Kansas to secure funding for Medicaid. For low-income Missouri rape victims who have to move out of state for abortion services due to Missouri's radical new abortion ban. It is a chilling memory that Missouri has turned its back on some of its most vulnerable citizens to the point that they have had to flee to neighboring states like refugees from an oppressive regime.
Missouri's ruling Republicans should be ashamed of this situation, but there are no signs that they are. should be prioritized.
Minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his Roe v. Wade judgment on June 24, his GOP leader in Missouri was accused of rape. Invoked laws that made abortion illegal from the moment of conception, even in cases of incest. , excluding medical emergencies. This means that most women and girls in Missouri who want an abortion, even if they are victims of child rape, have to go to states where abortion is still legal.
For low-income Missouri women, this isn't as easy as jumping in the car and driving east or west on Interstate 70. Lack of reliable transportation, inability to get paid time off, and other economic problems mean that Missouri's laws not only prey on women overall, but poor women in particular.
President Joe Biden last week signed an executive order to address the problem red states like Missouri have created to hastily outlaw abortion rights. One state can get Medicaid help for women from other states to get abortion services. Federal law prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions, except in cases of rape or incest, so this assistance may apply only to those victims.
Still, Republicans are widely expected to file a legal challenge to Biden's order. It aligns with the stated goal of some of Missouri's Republican legislatures to keep them from leaving the state. state physician. In their zeal to deny women everywhere the right to control their bodies, forced birth extremists have abandoned other core American rights, such as free speech and freedom of movement between states. ready to do
That said, for now, if a Missouri rape victim is desperate for abortion services, it is still legal to go out of state to obtain them. Having to ask neighboring states to help those victims is a shocking example of how helpless Missourians are by a Republican-controlled Congress. This year's midterm Democrats will need to remind voters of that every time.
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