Is Weed Legal in Missouri?

The answer to the question, “is weed legal in Missouri” is, to some extent. Penalties have been lessened for some cannabis and marijuana offenses, and medical cannabis legislation has passed making medical weed legal in Missouri. Marijuana has been decriminalized for some offenses, with Missouri Senate Bill 491 passing in May 2014.

That bill removed jail time as a consequence for possession up to 10 grams of marijuana. It also decreased the penalties for the sale and growth of marijuana. Further, it removed the ban of parole and probation for felony drug convictions after the second offense.

The bill passed by 140-15 in the Missouri house, and 29-2 in the Missouri Senate, and went into effect January 2017. Still, for recreational use with small amounts, possession is a misdemeanor.

Medical Marijuana Laws

The use of weed for medicinal purposes is legalized in Missouri, and has been since July 2014. In this year, Governor Nixon signed House Bill 2238 into law which was the Missouri Medical Marijuana Bill, and decriminalized CBD oil passing legislation that made it legal to use this oil to treat seizures.

This bill allows for hemp extract with five percent cannabidiol (CBD) and a THC cap of 0.3 percent. In 2015, the state had begun to issue licenses for non-profit organizations to grow cannabis in order to develop and sell the oil for medicinal purposes.

By November 2018, Missouri citizens voted 66 percent in favor of the ballot measure known as Amendment 2 that would legalize medicinal cannabis. Missouri residents with a prescription would now be able to grow six plants of their own and purchase a minimum of four ounces monthly.

Marijuana and the Missouri Tax Man

The decriminalization of marijuana in any state opens the door for building a revenue model that brings taxes into the state.

The amounts of marijuana specified in Amendment 2 are taxed at the rate of four percent, with those taxes being budgeted for helping military veterans. This law permits medical marijuana to be used for a “chronic or debilitating condition” where a doctor finds indicators that the patient would benefit from cannabis. Terminal illness is also in the bill, with medicinal marijuana being approved for terminal illnesses under a doctor’s approval.

Other initiatives with higher tax rates at 15 percent had failed in Missouri. Amendment three wanted the qualifying conditions for medical marijuana to be more stringent, and this measure only received 32 percent of the vote.

Proposition C proposed a constitutional amendment with taxes going in the other direction at two percent, and it also proposed the reduction of home cultivation of cannabis and marijuana. That proposition did not pass receiving only a 44 percent vote.