Legalized Recreational Marijuana has Many Issues

A campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Missouri gathered enough signatures to make it on the November ballot. If passed it would change the Missouri Constitution to allow people 21 and older to buy and grow it for personal consumption as early as this year.

Marijuana sales would also be taxed at 6% under the constitutional amendment. The tax is estimated to bring in more than $46 million during the first year and close to $70 million the following year. Revenues would be earmarked for veterans’ homes, drug treatment programs and public defenders.

Cities and other municipalities could enact local sales taxes on recreational marijuana up to 3% or enact local bans on non-medical marijuana sales by a public vote.

In spite of the potential tax money, the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys published a paper that cites many issues with the proposed constitutional amendment.

The association urges voters to look at how Colorado has been affected by their legal marijuana laws. One startling example is that Colorado has reported a 138% increase in traffic deaths in which drivers tested positive for marijuana, according to a 2021 report by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

Another issue prosecutors disagree with is that it changes the Missouri Constitution.

“Amendment 3 is bad government,” the prosecutors said. “Think how often you have heard about a law that had a problem and had to be fixed or changed — it happens all the time,” reported the Prosecutors’ Association. “If any part of the law is invalid or does not do what it was supposed to do, our Legislature is powerless to fix it except to send the amendment back for an expensive statewide election”

Prosecutors also believe penalties for marijuana offenses aren’t harsh enough to protect Missouri children.

 “Amendment 3 fails to protect our children from dealers in black market marijuana,” the prosecutors said. Even though pot would only be legal for people 21 and older, “a dealer can give or sell to middle schoolers and face only a ’civil penalty’ of $100.”

Prosecutors do not enforce civil penalties and provisions in the amendment do not specify who would who would be responsible for enforcing penalties. “This is not a deterrent. It is an incentive to ignore the safety of our kids,” states the association.

Finally, the prosecutors also cited health concerns for people who use marijuana. THC in marijuana is much more potent than it was in earlier decades and the effects can be seen. The paper cites Colorado’s woes: driving while high deaths are up 138%, suicides with positive toxicology for marijuana are up 29%, and tax revenue is offset by increased social program costs.

“States that have legalized recreational marijuana have seen spikes in violent and nonviolent crime,” states the association paper. “They have also seen an increase in illegal marijuana trade as illegal marijuana will always be cheaper, there are no taxes or regulations on it, and no practical ways to trace its origin. Amendment 3 is a bad idea badly done.”

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story