Five petitions - three of which would legalize medical marijuana - have been approved for the Nov. 6 ballot.
The Missouri Secretary of State's office announced Thursday it had issued five certificates of sufficiency for initiative petitions, meaning they each received the necessary number of signatures to go on the ballot.
In addition to the medical marijuana initiatives, the office affirmed, the "Clean Up Missouri Politics" initiative and an initiative to increase the state's minimum wage to $12 an hour over the next five years also will appear on the ballot.
Any legal challenges to the certifications must be filed within 10 days of their being issued.
Two of the initiatives would amend the Missouri Constitution to allow use of medical marijuana. Petition 2018-041 would allow use of marijuana for medical purposes and create regulations and licensing procedures for the product. It would impose a 15 percent tax on retail sales of marijuana and a tax on wholesale sales of flowers and leaves per dry ounce to licensed facilities. It would use funds from the taxes to create a state research institute to develop cures and treatments for cancer and other diseases or conditions.
The second medical marijuana petition that would amend the constitution (Petition 2018-051) would also allow use of marijuana for medical purposes, creating regulations and licensing for marijuana and marijuana facilities. It would impose a 4 percent tax on retail sales and use funds from the tax to provide health and care services for veterans (administered by the Missouri Veterans Commission) and to license and regulate marijuana and marijuana facilities.
Jamie Melchert, communications director for the MVC, said the commission is taking a wait-and-see approach to the initiative.
"The commission really has no stand on it," Melchert said. "There are a lot of pending initiatives that come forward, a lot that impact veterans that we become interested in. But it's up to the voters to approve or disapprove. We have to wait and see what the voters say."
Sponsors created 19 marijuana petitions for this year's ballot. Representatives wrote five bills that, to some extent, would have legalized marijuana if passed. The House of Representatives passed House Bill 1554, which would have allowed people with certain serious medical conditions to use medical marijuana. It was sponsored by state Rep. Jim Neely, R-Cameron, whose daughter died of cancer about three years ago.
Neely warned legislators that if they didn't pass some form of medical marijuana, voters (looking at 19 possible initiatives) would take it out of their hands.
The House passed his bill, which never got out of a Senate committee.
The third marijuana initiative that met its signature requirements (Petition 2018-271) would not make medical marijuana constitutional but would make it a state law removing state prohibitions on marijuana possession and use with written certification by a physician who treats patients diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition. It would remove prohibitions on growth, possession and production and sale of marijuana by licensed facilities. It would impose a 2 percent tax on the retail sale of medical marijuana and use the funds for veterans' services, drug treatment, early childhood education and public safety.
Calling marijuana medicine is erroneous, said Joy Sweeney, director of Jefferson City-based Council for Drug Free Youth.
"It should be confirmed as medicine through a scientific process," Sweeney said. "People don't vote on whether anything is medicine."
The Food and Drug Administration has never confirmed marijuana as a medicine, she said - in part, because it contains multiple compounds whose effects on health are unknown.
How does a layperson, who doesn't have the knowledge of a doctor or pharmacist, know that something is medicine? she asked.
People may "feel better" when they smoke marijuana, Sweeney said. But that's more of a narcotic effect.
"Getting high is getting high," Sweeney said. "That's not pain management."
Organizers of the Clean Missouri campaign hope to rectify the influence of lobbyists, large campaign contributions and political gerrymandering that erode political integrity.
Petition 2018-048 would change the process and criteria for redrawing legislative districts during reapportionment, change limits on campaign contributions to candidates for the state Legislature, establish a limit on gifts from paid lobbyists for state legislators and their employees, prohibit state legislators or their employees from serving as paid lobbyists for two years after their term expires, and open legislative records for the public.
The initiative has wide political support, according to Benjamin Singer, communications director for the campaign. More than 345,000 people signed the petition.
"We've got a bipartisan problem," Singer said. "Voters are tired of the systematic corruption of state government."
The initiative would allow voters to have a meaningful voice in Jefferson City, he said. It cracks down on lobbyists and donors. It makes the legislative maps more competitive.
"Over 90 percent of legislative races under the current maps are not competitive," Singer said. "Most candidates don't have to face a competitive election. That is a toxic combination."
In recent years, Missouri lawmakers have received an average of $885,000 per year in lobbyists gifts. Last year, lobbyists left more than $1 million for lawmakers in the Missouri State Capitol.
Organizers won't be surprised if "politicians and big-money folks" challenge the petition.
The final initiative certified Thursday focuses on small-money folks - those making minimum wage.
Petition 2018-204 would increase the state's minimum wage to $12 an hour over five years. It first would increase the minimum wage from $7.85 to $ $8.60 in 2019. Then it would increase it by 85 cents a year until 2023.
The initiative exempts government employees from the increase and increases the penalty for paying employees less than minimum wage.