OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:28 PM PT – Thursday, December 8, 2022
Recreational marijuana use is now legal in Missouri.
On Thursday, Amendment 3 was officially added to Missouri’s Constitution. It allows residents over the age of the 21 to possess up to three-ounces of the drug.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure during the midterm’s elections amending state laws prohibiting the purchase, sale, or possession of the product.
While recreational possession is now legal, recreational sales may not begin until dispensaries convert their medical licenses, a process many say could take months.
Dan Viets, an attorney for Missouri NORML spoke about the newly instated amendment.
“So, while they are technically able to possess it Thursday, by law, there’s nobody they can legally buy it from, and that creates a huge problem for us in law enforcement,” he said. “We have to submit a letter which basically says ‘yes, we want our comprehensive license versus just a medical license. The main thing it means is that 20,000 people will not get arrested this year, 20,000 fewer matters that will take the attention of the police away from more important things like investigating violent and property crimes.”
With a six percent tax on sales, legalization of marijuana is expected to bring the state more than $40 million in tax-revenue annually.