Editorial: Recreational marijuana amendment would be disaster for Missouri

I am not in favor of incarcerating past and present users of marijuana, and I understand the arguments about personal freedom, but this amendment, in my opinion, goes too far. Legalizing the manufacture and use of pot is not desirable for society because use of pot, for many, reduces initiative to work or do anything productive in life, which means government will end up taking care of more and more people. As the editorial says, it also has increased vehicle fatalities and also has been correlated with a number of mass shootings. Also, I do not believe legalization of pot should be locked into the Missouri Constitution.

Legalize it, regulate it and tax it!

"In 2014, 30,722 people died from alcohol-induced causes in the US — and that does not count drinking-related accidents or homicides. If those deaths were included, the number would be closer to 90,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, no deaths from marijuana overdoses have been reported, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. A 16-year study of more than 65,000 Americans, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that healthy marijuana users were not more likely to die earlier than healthy people who did not use cannabis."

https://www.businessinsider.com/alcohol-marijuana-which-worse-health-2017-11#a-l...

Joe Biden Pardon all Marijuana Prisoners 35 States Have Made it Legal so they could Tax the Sale and well Just Look at the Taxes Denver is Smoking to

It's already hard enough to find people that will come to work and do their job. More pot smokers will not help this. My vote will be NO.

The only way out of this conundrum is not legalize marijuana but also not criminalize it. We can have both. People do have a brain.

This amendment has no place in our constitution and must be defeated. Amendment 3 is a DISASTER for Missouri, and the reasons go far beyond what is stated in this editorial.

Vote NO.

Totally agree PK.

Researchers found that car accidents in Colorado increased 10% after marijuana was legalized in the state.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-05-15/study-ties-legalizin...

The Missourian writer should post the link to his source.

Yes, people with schizophrenia are likely to suffer more incidences from use of Marijuana from studies done over 25 years with the troops in the French Foreign Legion - but the above study notes that pain hospitalizations were down by 5% in Colorado.

Studies do show that using a cell phone and driving can cause about a 35% increase in accidents, yet Missouri does not penalize this and Cape PD don't give out tickets or even check to see if a driver in an accident was on their cell phone at the time of the accident - this ought to be automatic for accidents when someone states the other person was on their cell phone.

The state shouldn't be making money on vice. Also, the state shouldn't be picking winners and losers. Like other businesses, if someone can meet the standards, they should be allowed to be pot growers or sellers. That's capitalism. Competition keeps prices down. What the state does with gambling licenses, and mow wants to do with the pot business, is Republican socialism. What comes next? Legalizing and taxing prostitution?

The state shouldn't be making money on vice. -- Posted by nailswood on Fri, Oct 7, 2022, at 9:34 AM

There are taxes on beer/liquor. There are taxes on cigarettes. I disagree with legalizing marijuana but if it happens then tax the hell out of it.

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Thanks for the great points and link to that article Denis Rigdon. Everyone should read it.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is the much greater risk for car crashes. Regarding the comment of 12 year old children getting high - where did they get the purchased marijuana? You have to have a Medical Marijuana Card to purchase and be at least 18 or 21 years of age with a legal ID to enter a shop let alone purchase product. So I would think the product was weed off the street. All in all make Marijuana legal and let there be more jobs for all adults wanting to work.

No worse than alcohol.

Better than Rx pain pills.

Tax it.

So 3 years ago the answer was to go with medical marijuana because so many people were in need of it. They put it on the ballot 3 different ways to pass it. Now they are wanting to not only legalize it but go back and remove any felony charges and federal charges from the records. First of all it was illegal and they broke the law. Second of all I am not aware of any small amounts of marijuana that were prosecuted federally. This will be a nightmare and those of us who work for a living will continue to pay for it. Missouri could not pass a prescription monitoring program but let's give everyone weed. Thats the answer!

Obviously, the Editorial Board, Peter Kinder and others commenting have done their homework against recreational marijuana. Thank heavens they can reach back to historical information available in the 1936 movie "Reefer Madness." This is the same group that can justify Herschel Walker for U.S. Senate. I thank them for watching out for my welfare.⁶

Do your own research Savant. Missouri health and human services would be a good place to start for ya! I have a medical and grower card and have for over a year now. I have also purchased a fire arm and really had all I needed anyway. It did indeed take a doctor to authorize my prescription. Medical marijuana is much better then black market pot and so are the infused products. Medical pot that is purchased in dispensaries is well regulated and labeled with THC and THCA levels as well as terpine and cbd levels. As for rules, there are many. Must be grown indoor in locked room and must be consumed in private at home. There are many more as well look them up. Oh ! and a medical prescription for marijuana is NOT a free ride from cops. It must be transported correctly and never consumed while driving any vehicle.

Exactly, anyone who needs marijuana for medical reasons has access to it. Ingest in your home. If you have been to any of these states who have legalized marijuana, you can’t go anywhere without smelling someone smoking it. However, I agree with others on here. Legalize marijuana and I would like to see prostitution legalized. I do not partake in alcohol, drugs or prostitution but let’s start there and see where it takes this state!

Did anyone read the proposed amendment in the print version of the paper? It's very long, I didn't read it all, yet. It seems people can legally grow and possess their own, but I have yet to get to the part about how much someone can possess at any given time. 1 or 2 ounces? A pound? More? However much your plants produce? Also, where do people get seeds? I have yet to see any in the Gurneys or Burpee catalogs.

If anyone really wants to know the ins and outs of Medical/Recreational marijuana, search the internet for the State regulations re: possession, growth, testing, etc OR call the regulating agencies and ask questions. You will NOT receive any of that info from a local street dealer!

I think the ultimate question is, if you were going to put anything in your body, would you rather buy it from some stranger on the street in the middle of the night or from a State regulated facility? Would you rather buy your alcohol from someone in the woods with a still or from Schnucks?? Doesn't matter what it is.

"No one buys anything from a stranger."

Is that another fact??

MY biggest concern is the stories and the data available from states that have approved ballot measures like this. Why on earth would a voter want to approve *recreational* marijuana in Missouri? The results in Colorado are clear:

- traffic deaths with drivers who tested positive for marijuana have increased 138%

- 117 tested positive for THC — the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana

- young people, where use among those 12 and older is 61% higher than the national average

- increased risk of schizophrenia among young people who use marijuana

- the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana — Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon — all saw big increases in crime as compared to the national average

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And there is much more if you'll read this article and research others. The long-term affects of marijuana use shows it is mind altering and not just when you are smoking it. And in the article above (and others I've read) many mass shooters were using marijuana based on blood analysis.

Simple question - why approve this? What in the world are the benefits to Missourians?

Mr Kinder: Please write an editorial explaining the entire Amendment and what had been tacked on in the later parts that will have far reaching consequences for Missourians, in the future. Fine print hidden under the guise of legalization of marijuana which most often leads to the use of much stronger and lethal drugs. Close borders and make much stiffer punishment for drug traffickers and pushers.

The difference being it's not legal but still in use -- Posted by Savant on Mon, Oct 10, 2022, at 10:29 AM

Like cocaine, meth, crack, fentanyl, heroin, etc. Not an excuse to legalize any one of those as well.

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The point isn't the "negative effects". It's the RISE and INCREASE in negative effects that many articles and research have pointed out.

Who wants increases in crime, shootings, drugs usage among teens, etc?

Not me.

Do you honestly believe if it's legalized there will be an increase of weed smokers ? -- Posted by Savant on Mon, Oct 10, 2022, at 11:33 AM

Just reading the articles and research out of the states that did pass this. They say it will increase those things and - yes - I do believe it will increase the number of marijuana smokers.

Whew! Assuming the right document was found ... just wow, someone somewhere along the line must be getting paid by the word.

Cruising through at skimming speed, seems the first 17 pages deal with modifications to the existing medical part, with the following 21 pages after that being entirely new stuff. https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Elections/Petitions/2022-059.pdf

21 pages??? Seems to be an awful lot of words for something being promoted as a rather simple change, way more painful than actually reading the user agreements for software installations, so seems to be an opportunity for lotsa places to hide 'gotcha's, 'wait...what?'s, and 'get out of jail free' cards...

Still almost a month to go before showtime, but at this point, leaning heavily towards a 'no', simply for the baffling with excessive BS approach...

Or, it could simply be the wrong link referenced. :-)~

If it's going to increase the amount of smokers all they have to do now is drive across the river . -- Posted by Savant on Mon, Oct 10, 2022, at 12:14 PM

A lot of people believe in the "rule of law" and obey the law. Most people I know do.

If it is illegal in Missouri then they would never try it simply because it is against the law. If you make it legal then many people will try/use it because it is not against the law.

I stuck with the article and got more confused about how much you can have and how it's grown, recreationally. You can't plant pot with your sweet corn and green beans or off the back porch. It looks like it has to be grown indoors. Also, a person or household can have 6, 12, or 18 plants? and can have 3? ounces on hand. No idea how much a plant makes. My brain got tired reading the small print and legalese wordage.

BTW....didn't pot used to be considered a gateway drug to harder stuff?

When booze was illegal to sell on Sunday in Missouri People broke the Law and went to Illinois . -- Posted by Savant on Mon, Oct 10, 2022, at 3:12 PM

Booze was never illegal to drink in Missouri. Buying booze in Illinois and drinking it in Missouri has never, ever been illegal.

Smoking marijuana has never been legal in Missouri for decades.

Do any of you here that disagrees with recreational marijuana drink alcohol? This is the drug most often tried first by most individuals. It is also the most dangerous to both those who abuse it and those who do not even partake in its consumption. It ruins more lives and takes more innocent lives then any other. Hey but it's legal. However, there was a time it wasn't. When that took place back in the early part of the 20th century crime rose substantially simply because it was prohibited. It got so bad that prohibition was repealed simply because prohibition does not work! It hasn't with marijuana or any other drug as well as prostitution. The so called drug war is a complete disaster. It has cost tax payers billions and who knows how many lives. I am not a brainiac but there has to be a better way to deal with the issue of hard drug abuse. In my opinion marijuana is not a hard drug and it remains debatable whether or not it is addicting. Yep, I would much rather walk into a dark alley where some folks are smoking pot then the same alley where several are drinking and drunk. Oh! and I know several well to do productive citizens all over this republic some of which are very wealthy and work very hard that smoke pot recreationally. So please do not use the argument that people who smoke pot are lazy and brain dead it just won't hold water.

Again, alcohol impairment may be worse than pot impairment. BUT...as I have said before, you can have a drink, maybe two, and not be legally impaired. Nobody smokes pot without seeking a high. And evidence cited above proves that more smokers ARE driving under the influence. More kids in open pot states are using. And what's wrong with being conservative and religious?

There will certainly be a ng/ml, (nanograms per millimeter) amount of THC allowed per individual. Currently if I am not mistaken 20 ng/ml is the allowable amount of THC for a drug test to remain negative (allowable). The problem with THC is that it remains detectable within ones system for quite a period of time depending upon amount consumed as well as ones weight because THC seems to collect itself within fatty tissues. It will be difficult to police. Some of these statistics being tossed around concerning the states that have had legal recreational use for years, is misleading at best! Frankly, crime is up EVERYWHERE and pot has NOTHING to do with it! Nor has deaths on the highways increased due to marijuana use simply because THC may be detected at a very low ng/ml and the deaths are counted as caused by pot when they were not high in the first place. Numbers are so easily manipulated to suit ones narrative. In short, the sky has not fallen in any state that has legalized marijuana for those above the age of 21. In fact tax revenue is up in those states and, it has created thousands of jobs that pay well. The sky will not fall on Missouri either! One thing is for absolute sure! We all need to go to the polls this November and exercise our right to our political opinions and to vote for those who share your opinions and solutions. I will add this political opinion. I believe all taverns, dispensaries and most non essential businesses should be closed on midterm and presidential election days and no mail in ballots allowed. Absentee ballots should be allowed with good reason in advance. JMHO

Another thing I'd like to add is that if someone smokes a joint on Sunday, they will most likely still test positive on Friday. BUT they will NOT still be stoned on Friday from that joint on Sunday!! That issue needs to be addressed and understood. So all the stats about the accidents with positive marijuana tests are very misleading. It does NOT mean that all those people had just smoked a joint and were "under the influence" at the time. All it means is that they had inhaled it within the last 30 days.

Greywolf,

Just a tad off topic, sorry. What do you see as the difference between mail-in and absentee ballots? I ask because my Dad was career USAF and he would not have been able to vote without being able to mail it in, sometimes from a foreign country. I'm curious about your POV.

We need legalization of marijuana in order to put up with all the cranky people wringing their hands and crying out about the potential issues of marijuana...nevermind the fact that alcohol causes more issues and wrecks more lives then anyone would ever care to admit. And while we're on the kick to criminalize anything that's bad for society, let's also criminalize the fast food industry, music, tv, and on and on and on.

Kristen, I will always agree as a veteran, that mail in ballots by active members should be allowed. Same would hold true for all government employees stationed outside the country. There should also be some exemptions if health issues do not allow travel to the polling place. These things can be handled by county clerk offices and put on file for a ballot to be mailed. jmo

Greywolf,

Thank you.