On Nov. 8, citizens took to the polls to vote for the 2022 Midterm Elections and voted yes to legalize marijuana in Missouri. The legalization of recreational marijuana will not take effect in Missouri until Dec. 8, when the Department of Health and Senior Services will transition the operating medical license holders to simple recreational licenses. The transitioning of those licenses could come as early as February.
The University of Central Missouri has been a tobacco-free campus since 2014, including all nicotine products being prohibited on campus. Given UCM’s no smoking policy, Madison Baxter, junior, is curious on what campus activities could look like with marijuana legal in the state.
“[Marijuana] helps countless people with medical issues. I just don’t want my fellow UCM students to be using it irresponsibly,” Baxter said.
Amendment 3 was on the midterm ballot in Missouri and was voted in by almost 52% of Johnson County voters, according to the Missouri Secretary of State.
Amendment 3 proposes the statewide legalization for marijuana for recreational usage.
It will alter Missouri’s Constitution by removing prohibitions on the sale, use and possession of marijuana and all residents who are over 21 years old, as well as adding a 6% tax on the sale of marijuana. The amendment would additionally allow certain people with nonviolent marijuana related offenses to petition their release from prison and/or to have their records expunged.
Sophomore Kaylin Smith said, “I think there should be limitations on who and when you can use recreational marijuana.”
Besides the stigma behind marijuana usage, there were other reasons the amendment was contested.
Kansas City Public Radio reported that, “many longtime legalization advocates [campaigned] against the measure over fears for how the market would be administered by DHSS. Progressive groups like the Missouri chapter of the NAACP, Pro-Choice Missouri and the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus opposed the measure.”