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US: Mo. Pot Activists Gear Up for 2016 Nick Thompson Ozarks First Monday 29 Dec 2014 On Wednesday, Secretary of State Jason Kander's office opened up a second marijuana initiative for public comment. The imitative comes from Sensible Missouri. Show-Me Cannabis filed the first petition the day after the November election. Both petitions aim to legalize the drug but differ in spelling out who should have access to legal weed and how it should be regulated. Trish Bertrand, President of Springfield’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told KOLR10 she became a pot activist when the issues lhit close to home. "My husband is a former medical user and we got swat raided here in Missouri in 2010,” Bertrand said. “From that moment on, I’ve decided that we need to reform some laws so that we're not jailing patients anymore." Bertrand is looking forward to 20-16. So far, there's the petition from Show-Me Cannabis, which would allow the state to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana and would prohibit recreational use for those under the age of 21. The Sensible Missouri proposal is much shorter and contains no taxing and regulation provisions or an age limit. Bertrand said her organization will likely get behind the Show-Me-Cannabis proposal because regulations like an age limit will likely sway more voters at the polls. "I think that if we put it behind the counter and have strict ID Controls, we can do a lot better job of keeping our teens away from marijuana than we do now," Bertrand said. Show-Me Cannabis suspended a legalization effort this year because in a poll of Missouri’s registered voters, opponents outweighed supporters 51-45. Nationally, supporters outweigh the opponents 51-47, according to Gallup’s most recent poll. While public opinion is bent toward legalization, many law enforcement professionals and elected officials in Missouri either want more information before the state proceeds with legalization, or they are completely opposed to it. Christian County Sheriff Joey Kyle told KOLR10 in January he does not support legalization. Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams told KOLR10 in November he also has concerns. "Why are we going to cut loose another mind-altering drug onto society when we can't control the ones that are already legal,” Kyle said. “Alcoholism is rampant." Bertrand disagrees, saying the consequences of the current system are direr than the potential social ills of legalization. "My family, we’ve felt the impact of a marijuana conviction,” Bertrand said. “It took me probably three years to find a job and even that was through a temporary service. We really are trapping people in a life of poverty with these laws. And it's time to fix that." After petitions go through the public comment period, the next step is for the secretary of state to approve them for circulation, so supporters can begin gathering signatures. The process can be difficult. In the 2014 election cycle, 65 petitions were filed with the secretary of state's office, and only one of them actually made the ballot. http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/d/story/mo-pot-activists-gear-up-for-2016/32566/9wTDn6qVrUaXmxkQz37CkA
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