2009 Missouri medical marijuana bill assigned to committee too late for action
Last update: September 25, 2009
For the third year in a row, medical marijuana legislation was introduced but failed to get a vote because it was assigned to committee too late.
HB 277, was sponsored by 10 representatives. It would have allowed patients with serious diseases like cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, Crohn's disease, and glaucoma to use medical marijuana pursuant to a physician's recommendation. Registered patients and caregivers would be allowed to possess up to seven marijuana plants (three mature and four immature) and 1 ounce of usable marijuana per mature plant.
This year was the first year that Rep. Ron Richard (R-Joplin) was Speaker of the House, but he followed his predecessors' lead by failing to give this compassionate bill a chance.
Reform at the local level
In 2004, Columbia, Missouri passed two initiatives, one of which allows patients to possess small amount of marijuana (35 grams) and the other removes jail time for adults who possess less than 35 grams of marijuana for personal use.
In 2008, Sensible Joplin attempted to qualify a marijuana decriminalization initiative for the ballot, but fell short just 531 signatures of the necessary 4,656 signatures needed to qualify the question for the ballot. Sensible Joplin and more than 4,000 Joplin residents that support marijuana policy reform will be back in 2012 to make another run at the ballot.
In February, the small town of Cliff Village voted 3-2 to enact an ordinance that allows the medical use of marijuana. You can read more about this here and here. And, in July, the Board of Aldermen of the town of Cottleville unanimously passed a resolution in support of allowing medical marijuana.
Stay connected
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project and all of our allies. If you have any questions concerning the status of marijuana policy reform in Missouri, you can contact us by email at state@mpp.org.
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