On Wednesday, a substituted version of HJR 83, legislation filed by Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, was reported Do Pass out of the Special Committee on Criminal Justice, a committee chaired by Dogan, by a 7-2 vote.
The legislation, which would place a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana in Missouri as a ballot measure for approval by voters, now heads to the Rules Administrative Oversight Committee. The legislation will need to see approval from the Committee before heading to the House floor for perfection, before being sent on to the Senate for approval.
Dogan’s original proposal, called the Smarter and Safer Missouri Act, spanned 22 pages. While the substituted version has been whittled down to five pages, the language still highlights criminal justice reform – calling for the immediate release and removal from supervision for persons whose convictions were for “nonviolent, marijuana-only offenses.” The substituted version of HJR 83 would deschedule marijuana and remove it from the list of controlled subtances in Missouri, the proposal also dictates that “No special licensing shall be required beyond that which is applicable for the cultivating, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, packaging, distributing, transferring, displaying, or possession of any nontoxic food or food product.”
Legislative Session ends Friday, May 13.
Read the full text of the substituted bill below.
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