Missouri voters may vote on legal marijuana industry in November 2012

by

Deborah Morgan

Source: examiner.com

Last fall, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan gave approval to circulate petitions submitted by Show-Me Cannabis Regulation, a political organization lobbying for a legal medical marijuana program in the state of Missouri. The group has until May 6th, 2012, to submit at least 150,000 signatures in six out of nine congressional districts in order for the two ballot initiatives to appear on the November 2012 election ballot.

The first proposal would amend the state constitution to legalize cannabis for people 21 and older, while allowing doctors to recommend the use of medical marijuana. The proposal goes on to include the release of non-violent cannabis prison inmates and would also re-introduce a legal agricultural hemp industry into the cash-strapped state, allowing the Missouri State Legislature to enact a marijuana tax of up to $100 per pound. The second proposal simply enacts a state cannabis law, rather than amending the Missouri Constitution.

Amid Republican primary fever and the looming 2012 presidential election, candidates would be well-advised to focus on a polarizing issue such as marijuana law reform, especially given voters' disappointment with incumbent President Barack Obama's perceived betrayal of the issue's supporters.

“To say we are incensed at the President is a staggering understatement,” says Paul DeClermant, a Kansas City Democrat. “The internet went crazy during his 2008 campaign about how supportive he was of medical marijuana programs and how he believed it should be up to each state to decide, without federal interference. He completely lied and stabbed us in the back!”

DeClermant went on to cite case after case of Pres. Obama's increases in federal raids on state-regulated cannabis dispensaries while continuing to ignore the pleas of cannabis reform supporters on the White House's We The People petition website. Says DeClermant, “He asked for our suggestions and then provided stock answers to dismiss the record-setting activity on the top petition questions. He cares more about getting re-elected than he does about the sick and the dying, even though his own grandmother died of cancer. I'm a lifelong Democrat, but he's not getting my vote again. Whoever runs and supports marijuana law reform gets my vote. Fool me once, shame on me... fool me twice...”

Despite voter anger and frustration by time-honored political trickery, Kansas City voters seem to be unified in one aspect: finding a candidate whose platform and public face reflect the will of the majority. Alicia Brecker, a Republican voter and cancer survivor, says “Marijuana saved my life when I was too sick from chemotherapy to eat. Now that I'm in remission – thanks to marijuana – I prefer to smoke recreationally than to drink alcohol, because it's safer and won't destroy what's left of my liver. Why shouldn't I have the right to use marijuana when Kansas City is full of bars and liquor stores? Shouldn't I be able to decide if I want whiskey or weed? I'm not hurting anyone! I only wish Mitt Romney would support me. He'd have my vote in November... but I'm going with Ron Paul.”

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney is adamantly opposed to marijuana law reform and is even unaware of the existence of industrialized hemp, although that industry represents potentially millions of jobs in our economically-deprived country. He continually dodges the issue of medical marijuana, although a large portion of his support base are potential future medical marijuana patients, such as the elderly and those who can no longer afford expensive pharmaceutical drugs.

Other GOP presidential candidates include Newt Gingrich, who formerly advocated for medical marijuana law reform but has reversed his stance in recent years, despite having admitted to cannabis use in his own past. Rick Santorum is also a past marijuana user, but opposes any form of marijuana law reform. Gov. Rick Perry does not support legalizing marijuana for recreational use, but believes in supporting the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution by allowing individual states to make their own determination. 

The only GOP candidate who supports medical marijuana is also the only candidate with a medical degree, TX Congressman Ron Paul, who believes the War on Drugs is expensive, destructive, and futile. As a physician, Paul recognizes the advantageous benefits of cannabis as a medicine and how cost-effective it is as a replacement for expensive and side-effect-ridden pharmaceuticals. He also recognizes the financial potential for not only the federal government in terms of regulation similar to that of alcohol, but for individual states' coffers as well.

The advantages of a medical marijuana program in Missouri are many, not the least of which would be an inexpensive alternative to pharmaceuticals for cash-strapped patients, while removing the danger of potentially-deadly side effects. Many maladies and conditions qualify for medical marijuana. From the Washington state-regulated medical marijuana program's website:

"'Terminal or debilitating medical condition' means:
Cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), multiple sclerosis, epilepsy or other seizure disorder, or spasticity disorders; or intractable pain, limited for the purpose of this chapter to mean pain unrelieved by standard medical treatments and medications; or glaucoma, either acute or chronic, limited for the purpose of this chapter to mean increased intraocular pressure unrelieved by standard treatments and medications; or Crohn's disease with debilitating symptoms unrelieved by standard treatments or medications; or Hepatitis C with debilitating nausea or intractable pain unrelieved by standard treatments or medications; or diseases, including anorexia, which result in nausea, vomiting, wasting, appetite loss, cramping, seizures, muscle spasms, or spasticity, when these symptoms are unrelieved by standard treatments or medications; or any other medical condition duly approved by the Washington state medical quality assurance commission in consultation with the board of osteopathic medicine and surgery as directed in this chapter."

In addition to medical marijuana, the ballot initiatives also stipulate a renewal of Missouri's industrialized hemp agriculture, which was profitable in the early twentieth century before the valuable plant fell under prohibition. The potential for massive job creation and financial solvency for struggling Missouri farmers is incentive to support these ballot initiatives.

The state of Missouri was once the chief agricultural provider of hemp and cannabis, before the prohibition of the plant in 1939. With Missouri in real financial trouble, citizens of the Show-Me state are forced to face reality: re-embrace and re-legalize a legitimate and highly-profitable cannabis industry or suffer the budget cuts of the state legislature. In fact, last year Governor Jay Nixon proposed cutting about $440 million from the budget by cutting colleges, state jobs, mental health services, some Medicaid services, and school transportation services. This does not bode well for Missouri's economy, while becoming the nation's 17th medical marijuana state holds the potential for millions of tax dollar revenue within one fiscal year and thousands of new jobs.

Regardless of personal desire to use cannabis or its derivatives, each Missouri voter must responsibly weigh the pros and cons of a legal marijuana industry in the state. Some finer points of a legal industrialized hemp industry in Missouri are:

• The United States is the only industrialized country that does not allow farmers to grow hemp.

• Until 1883, 75 to 90 percent of all paper in the United States was made with hemp.

• Hemp seed was the No. 1 selling bird feed—4 million pounds were sold in the Unites States in 1937.

• Until 1937, 70 to 90 percent of all rope and twine was made with hemp.

• Hemp is heat, mildew, pest, light and rot resistant.

• Hemp fabric is softer, warmer, more water resistant and more durable than cotton.

• Hemp has a production rate of up to 10 tons per acre, every four months.

• Trees mature in 50 to 100 years; hemp matures in as little as 100 days.

Imagining what benefit legal cannabis could have on Missouri farmers, the sick and the dying, and the Show-Me state's struggling economy is reason enough to seriously consider voting for the ballot initiatives in November 2012... and to support the presidential candidates who are wise enough to take up this polarizing issue during the general election campaign season.

For more information on supporting the Show-Me Cannabis Regulation ballot initiatives petition drive, visit http://show-mecannabis.com/ .