Missouri General Assembly fails medical marijuana patients

Missouri's legislative session ended recently. It was a mixed bag for marijuana policy reform: While a medical marijuana bill and a bill to reform mandatory minimum sentencing both died in their committees, a bill to criminalize being under the influence of marijuana was also stopped.

Sadly, seriously ill Missouri residents will continue to be treated as criminals for using their medicine—until legislators have the courage and compassion to act on medical marijuana legislation. It is time to change the way Missouri treats these patients. Please urge your legislators to support medical marijuana next session: Only you can convince them that this issue is vital to Missouri residents.

Please take a few moments to Take Action. After you choose your favorite pre-written letter and type in your address, our site will automatically e-mail your letter to your legislators … all with the click of a few buttons. The whole process takes less than two minutes, but it makes a world of difference. Also, you can print the letters and send them to your legislators through regular mail.

If Missouri enacts a medical marijuana bill, it will join a growing number of medical marijuana states. Nine states have enacted laws that protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and imprisonment. Additionally, in 2003, MPP helped Maryland pass a law that removed the threat of prison, but not arrest, for the medical use of marijuana. Polls consistently show massive public support for this issue.

Rep. Vicki Walker (D-50th House District) had the compassion to introduce a medical marijuana bill, H.B. 1348. Reps. Thomas Villa (D-108th House District), Vicky Riback Wilson (D-25th House District), and Jenée Lowe (D-44th House District) cosponsored the bill. Although the House Health Care Policy Committee held a hearing on the bill, it never brought H.B. 1348 to a vote, and the bill died in that committee. Missouri legislators must learn that their constituents care about the fate of seriously ill Missouri residents. This cannot happen without your help. Please Take Action now.

Unfortunately, a bill to reform mandatory minimum sentencing—H.B. 983—also died in committee. S.B. 1348 would have given the Board of Probation and Parole the discretion to review nonviolent prisoners' sentences and release them before their sentences are completed.

However, there was a positive development this session. A bill that would have made it a crime to be under the influence of marijuana or any other controlled substance never made it out of the first committee it was referred to—the Senate Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee—without getting a hearing. The punishment would have been up to a year imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this information on so that even more voices for reform can be heard.