Cannabis activists in Missouri and stakeholders from the industry are preparing to push for an initiative to be placed on the ballot of the state 2026. The initiative is meant to create parity and consolidate the regulations between hemp and marijuana.
A marijuana legalization act that was approved by voters in 2022 included regulations within the Constitution. It removed legislators’ power to change certain things. The coalition of industry behind the upcoming initiative wants to remove much of this language, and give the state legislature a mandate to create statutory rules.
“In our American tradition, the purpose of a constitution is to define and restrain the power of governments—not the private sector or the individual,” Eapen Thampy, a lobbyist for American Shaman, told MEDCAN24 on Monday. The job of statute law is to regulate the private sectors.
“I’m sure this would solve many problems,” said he. “The marijuana men have an insane regulatory burden, created by rules that they cannot change. This is despite millions they spent on campaigning for offices in the previous election cycle.”
Thampy, during an online briefing on Monday with advocates and stakeholders, said that the text of this proposal was currently being written by a law firm who would not be named. Plan is to file the measure by August for the November ballot in 2026.
This effort will be organized by a newly formed political group called Missourians for a Single Market.
In theory, this initiative could create an even playing field for marijuana and hemp, industries that currently follow a different set of rules. The stakeholders are looking for policies to treat both marijuana and hemp industries more equally, similar to the way the state handles the alcohol market.
“We’ve got this artificial legal construct called ‘marijuana’ and this artificial legal construct called ‘hemp,’ and these two legal creations represent one plant,” Thampy said. Thampy said, “The idea here is that this plant is one. It should only be one market. It should have a single set of regulations.
He said, “We can pioneer in Missouri a new approach that is the first of its kind.”
Steve DeAngelo – a marijuana activist and entrepreneur well known for his involvement in successful legalization campaigns and the Harborside Dispensary in Oakland in California – also participated in Monday’s online videoconference and expressed support for the proposed legislation.
He described three “pillars”, which he believes should be united under one regulatory model, namely marijuana, hemp and the “legacy operators” who were active in this space prior to legalization.
When you lower the barriers of entry, legacy people that are currently outside the legal system will be able enter,” said he. So you can create a single cannabis market across all industries. This is the proposition I’m going to make now.
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Missouri has increased its pressure on the hemp market as state officials crackdown on those businesses that are selling cannabis intoxicants like THCA without following the legal marijuana program. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent more than a dozen stop-and-desist letters to these businesses in the last month. He threatened legal action against non-compliant companies.
There are multiple proposals being considered by lawmakers, each with their own details about what products should be allowed as well as the THC level in those 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.
D.C. Hemp Company Sues Feds Over ‘Unworkable Standard’ Created By Marijuana Budget Rider
Philip Steffan is the photographer.
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