Missouri’s campaign filed 2026 ballot measures that would unify marijuana and hemp regulations. The initiatives include a revised license system as well as legislative mandates for amending current laws.
Missourians for Single Market filed four different versions of their proposal at the Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday. Although the core measures of each proposal are identical, they differ in terms of taxes and regulatory authority, such as for THC infused beverages.
The voters’ marijuana legalization act of 2022 included regulations within the Constitution and limited the legislative ability to change certain things. The coalition supporting the new initiatives aims to eliminate much of that language in order to give legislators a constitutional mandate to write statutory regulations themselves.
After the measure is filed at the Secretary of State’s Office, the review will take 50 days. Then officials can confirm the language used and the clear supporters for the signature collection.
The campaign will decide which version to adopt and begin collecting signatures of registered voters this fall. Around 180,000 signatures must be valid in order to ensure ballot placement. There are specific thresholds for the congressional districts of each state.
This process may be complicated by a couple of legislative proposals being discussed during a special session. The first would redraw Missouri’s congressional districts in a manner that would benefit Republicans, while the second would require all initiatives in Missouri to receive majority support before they could be implemented.
The new cannabis reform proposals are not endorsed by everyone. One Missouri marijuana association, for example, argues that they would “repeal”, the law approved by the voters and benefit the hemp market.
In a Tuesday press release, Eapen Thampy, the lead petitioner of the new initiative, stated that “opposition from marijuana monopoly interest has blocked the path for reasonable legislation to regulate hemp.” As the marijuana industry continues to corrupt the levers in government, thousands of companies and employees are at risk of political harm. Single Market Amendment is a measure to create a market that’s free, regulated and without any favoritism.
According to the measures, lawmakers are not allowed “to create any limits or restrictions on licenses, nor geographic limitations that would be more restrictive than the ones for alcohol and tobacco sales, or licensing requirements for individuals/entities stricter than the retail establishments who sell tobacco or alcohol.” Additionally, they specify that retail cannabis businesses cannot charge higher licensing fees than retail alcohol.
Also, there would be no limit on the purchase of marijuana or hemp.
One of the provisions in the initiative is a policy which would allow people to grow cannabis on their property and sell it directly to adult consumers, or retailers via a controlled pathway involving testing.
Thampy, a MEDCAN24 reporter last month, said: “We would like to protect and expand the rights of adults to cultivate and process their cannabis for personal use.”
In terms of production and sale, he explained that “part of it is making sure hemp is regulated.
The initiatives also include provisions that allow for adults to self-certify themselves as medical marijuana users, offer a path for expungements to those who have convictions of possession, sale, or distribution of cannabis prior to August 28, 2027, and require retroactive tax relief at the state level for cannabis companies that were deprived their right to deduct federal income taxes due to the Internal Revenue Service Code 280E.
All four of the initiatives submitted on Tuesday have a similar goal but are different in some ways.
In the first ten years, the tax rate on hemp and marijuana would be 11 percent. These tax dollars will be collected by Department of Revenue for administrative expenses and the rest of the money goes to veterans’ health funds. Then, cannabis will be taxed ‘using an equivalent per-dose model that does not exceed taxes on alcohol. Based on independent scientific standards, public health data and reflecting similar psychoactive effects as alcohol.
Two other initiatives immediately follow the model of alcohol parity taxes.
The two versions of the bill would require lawmakers to adopt hemp THC drinks that follow existing alcohol regulations.
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Andrew Mullins (executive director, MoCannTrade) told MEDCAN24 that in June the upcoming initiative “would effectively repeal Missouri’s twice-voted-approved marijuana legalization laws” – referring both to medical reform and adult use measures.
The licensed and regulated Missouri marijuana industry, which generated $241 millions in state and federal tax revenues alone last year, is considered to be among the nation’s most significant.
Mullins claimed that a drastic change in the cannabis policy of Missouri “would be an utter failure. Especially since bad actors are funding it, who currently sell unregulated marijuana made overseas to Missouri’s children at gas stations and smokeshops.” “Missourians don’t want to steal hundreds of millions in funding from the local community, our veterans or justice system just so politicians can replace it later.” “The voters in the Show-Me-State state are too intelligent to fall for such a bait and switch.
Missouri’s hemp industry is also under increased state pressure as the officials try to clamp down on companies that sell intoxicating cannabis-based products, such as THCA, outside the program for marijuana. The state attorney general sent over a dozen cease-and-desist orders to such businesses in June, threatening potential legal action for non-compliant businesses.
The legislators have considered multiple options, including different details about what types of products will be permitted and the limits that would be placed on THC in products.
In February, legislation allowing low-dose intoxicating hemp beverages to continue to be sold in grocery and liquor stores was reported favorably by committees in both the House and Senate but was not enacted into law.
You can read the Missouri marijuana ballot measures below.
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