Something of interest for missourians to take note of and pay attention to...the HB-277 bill Medical marijuana bill introduced – help make Missouri the 14th medical marijuana state! Last update: April 20, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medical marijuana bill introduced In each of the past several years, medical marijuana legislation has been introduced in the Missouri General Assembly; unfortunately, none of these bills have made it out of committee. Please send your legislators an e-mail urging them to give the medical marijuana bill — HB 277 — the attention it deserves this year. The 2009 session brings with it new hope and new leadership. If you are a constituent of the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Ron Richard (R-Joplin), please send him an e-mail asking him to assign HB 277 to committee immediately. HB 277, sponsored by 10 representatives, would allow 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 each mature plant. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If the federal government can have a medical marijuana program, why can’t Missouri? Interestingly, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the federal government’s little-known medical marijuana program, which was implemented under the federal government’s Investigational New Drug program. For legislators to say that Missouri can’t have a medical marijuana law because it would be in conflict with federal law is to deny the reality of the situation. If your legislator cites this as the reason for their lack of support, remind them about the federal program and the fact that 13 states have already passed laws that are on the books and working. Here are some more things you can do to help forward this year’s legislation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. To receive news about Missouri marijuana policy reform as it happens, be sure to subscribe to MPP’s free legislative alert service, if you haven’t done so already.
