On November 8th, Missourians have an opportunity to take a stand against the cannabis cartel seeking to clutter our Constitution with insider advantages, erosion of voter-approved safeguards, and confusing language, just so these schemers can get richer from legalizing recreational marijuana.

Missourians should vote NO on proposed Amendment 3. It just goes too far.

Four years ago, a majority of Missouri voters supported legalizing marijuana for medical use. But even Missourians who tolerate medical marijuana will find much to dislike if they ever get around to reading the 39 pages of Amendment 3, which current holders of lucrative medical pot licenses are trying to sucker them into cementing to constitutional status. So will many other Missourians who both oppose and support the use and decriminalization of so-called “recreational” marijuana, for various reasons.

Amendment 3 is written and financed by Missouri’s current medical marijuana monopoly license holders. Not surprisingly, it locks these insiders’ advantages into the Constitution and will make this cannabis cartel vastly richer and more powerful. That’s because they are the only ones in position to take meaningful advantage of a boom in new marijuana sales.

Amendment 3 provides that any existing medical marijuana business holding “an active facility license” “shall have the right to convert their license to a “comprehensive marijuana license” to sell recreational weed.

So-called “microbusiness licenses” are offered as a fig leaf, appearing to help get new marijuana business licenses for individuals who meet poverty guidelines or have limited education, professional experience or other disadvantages. This may sound good to disadvantaged groups aspiring to make a go in the marijuana business against the rich insider cartel. 

But Amendment 3 forces applicants to compete not on qualifications or greatest need, but in a random lottery. And if a license is won, Amendment 3 doesn’t provide for any state startup funding, training, business planning or other support, as is the case in other states that intentionally work to foster success among disadvantaged marijuana licensees.

Amendment 3’s lack of even a penny of state support makes no sense when (HP1)  licensees are eligible precisely because they lack such resources.

Cannabis cartel insiders have certainly taken care of themselves in Amendment 3.

They make their monopoly licenses even more valuable by repealing and loosening current restrictions and rewriting definitions in their favor. For example, Amendment 3 lets the same current monopoly controlling interests own even more facilities.

It is already difficult to actually trace who has control; Amendment 3 will make it impossible to see who really has the power in Missouri’s pot empires. But here’s one thing we do know: Amendment 3 dumps current law that all majority owners of marijuana facilities must be persons who are Missouri residents.

Amendment 3’s language is so vague and confusing, it will lead to years of litigation.

For example, it creates a maximum $100 fine for violations but it fails to specify which agency may enforce or collect such fines. Amendment 3 also has no definition of when a marijuana user is considered “under the influence.”

Amendment 3 undermines private property rights: landlords would be unable to prohibit tenants from possessing and consuming recreational marijuana so long as they don’t smoke it — but “smoking” is not defined in Amendment 3, and so they presumably must be allowed to “vape” it.

Law enforcement and public safety are neutered by Amendment 3, which says police cannot detain, search or arrest if they don’t know in advance whether a person has more than three ounces of weed. It says the presence of marijuana cannot be the basis for a search for other drugs or illegal activity.

Moreover, supporters of Amendment 3 make such a high priority of mandating expungement of certain drug convictions, government costs of clearing criminal records would be paid before funding goes to veterans services or drug treatment, which should surely be higher priorities.

It’s all too much.

Our organization, Save Our State, has been created to unify Missourians who believe Amendment 3 just goes too far. Check out www.NoAmendment3.com to get the facts.

On November 8, please vote no on legalizing weed everywhere in Missouri and making marijuana monopoly insiders richer.

(Scott Dieckhaus, of Washington, Mo., is chairman of Save Our State, which opposes Missouri Amendment 3).