Did the Missouri AG approve the ballot summary for Mark Pedersen's 2019 Article XIV initiative legalizing recreational and medical marijuana with no age limits and full record expungement (file 2020-070)?
Plain-English summary
Petition 2020-070 was Mark Pedersen's initiative to amend Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution (the article voters added in 2018 to legalize medical marijuana). The petition would have gone substantially further. It would repeal the entire existing medical marijuana program; legalize possession, consumption, cultivation, and sale of marijuana for any purpose at any age; legalize driving under the influence of marijuana; release everyone currently incarcerated, on parole, or on probation for nonviolent marijuana-related crimes; legalize commercial cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale; destroy all state civil and criminal records of nonviolent marijuana offenses; bar Missouri agencies from assisting federal marijuana enforcement; and forbid taxation of physician-recommended medical marijuana.
This is one of the most expansive marijuana-legalization petitions on record in any state. By comparison, the 2018 medical marijuana amendment Missouri voters passed was a tightly regulated medical-use framework, and the 2022 recreational legalization (Amendment 3) preserved age limits, kept driving-under-influence prohibitions, and retained taxation.
After the Secretary of State drafted the ballot summary, the AG reviewed it under § 116.334 RSMo. AG Schmitt's letter here approves the legal content and form of that summary. The AG's role is narrow: a legal-form check on the ballot summary. It is not a policy endorsement.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2019. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, and later AG opinions (especially the 2022 Amendment 3 recreational legalization) have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
The exact ballot summary the AG approved
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
- repeal all current medical marijuana (cannabis) provisions;
- remove state prohibitions on possession, consumption, cultivation, and sale of marijuana for personal or medical use, regardless of age;
- legally allow driving while under the influence of marijuana;
- release all individuals from incarceration, parole and probation if convicted only of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes;
- remove state prohibitions on commercial cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of marijuana;
- destroy all state civil and criminal records of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes;
- prohibit Missouri assisting enforcement of federal marijuana offenses; and
- prohibit the taxation of physician-recommended medical marijuana?
Common questions
Q: How does this differ from Missouri's 2018 medical marijuana amendment?
A: The 2018 amendment (Amendment 2) created a regulated medical marijuana program with patient registration, licensed dispensaries, and a 4% sales tax. Pedersen's 2020-070 would have repealed that program entirely and replaced it with no-limits legalization for any user.
Q: How does this differ from the 2022 recreational legalization (Amendment 3)?
A: Amendment 3 legalized adult-use marijuana for those 21 and over, kept the driving-under-influence prohibition, taxed sales at 6%, and preserved much of the existing regulatory framework. Pedersen's 2020-070 would have removed age limits entirely, allowed driving while impaired, and stripped the regulatory framework.
Q: What does "destroy all state civil and criminal records" mean?
A: Full record expungement plus deletion. Most criminal-record reform statutes seal records (limit who can see them) rather than destroy them. The petition would order the actual destruction of paper and electronic records.
Q: Did the petition reach the ballot?
A: The opinion does not say. Pedersen's 2020-070 does not appear to have advanced to the 2020 ballot. A different, narrower marijuana-legalization petition reached the ballot in 2022 and passed.
Q: Who can challenge the summary statement?
A: § 116.190 RSMo lets any registered voter challenge the official ballot summary as "insufficient or unfair" by filing suit in Cole County circuit court within ten days of certification.
Background and statutory framework
Chapter 116 RSMo lays out the initiative-petition pipeline:
- Proponent files the petition with the Secretary of State.
- AG reviews sufficiency as to form under § 116.332 RSMo.
- State Auditor prepares a fiscal note; AG reviews under § 116.175.4 RSMo.
- Secretary of State drafts a summary statement; AG reviews under § 116.334 RSMo (this opinion).
- Petition certified for circulation.
Citations and references
Statutes: § 116.334 RSMo (the operative provision); § 116.190 RSMo (judicial challenges); § 116.175 RSMo (fiscal-note pipeline); § 116.332 RSMo; Mo. Const. art. XIV (the existing medical marijuana article, the section the petition would replace).
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/138-2019.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Original opinion text
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT
July 22, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 138-2019
The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Dear Secretary Ashcroft:
This opinion letter responds to your request dated July 12, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Mark Pedersen regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to amend Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution. The proposed summary statement is as follows:
Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
• repeal all current medical marijuana (cannabis) provisions;
• remove state prohibitions on possession, consumption, cultivation, and sale of marijuana for personal or medical use, regardless of age;
• legally allow driving while under the influence of marijuana;
• release all individuals from incarceration, parole and probation if convicted only of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes;
• remove state prohibitions on commercial cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of marijuana;
• destroy all state civil and criminal records of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes;
• prohibit Missouri assisting enforcement of federal marijuana offenses; and
• prohibit the taxation of physician-recommended medical marijuana?
Pursuant to § 116.334, RSMo, we approve the legal content and form of the proposed statement. Because our review of the statement is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition, nor as the expression of any view regarding the objectives of its proponents.
Very truly yours,
ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov
OP-2019-0163