Missouri Activists File Initiatives To Unify Marijuana And Hemp Regulations For 2026 Ballot

A Missouri campaign has filed a series of 2026 ballot initiatives that aim
to unify hemp and marijuana regulations by creating parity between the two
cannabis industries with a revised licensing system and legislative
mandates to amend current laws.

Missourians for a Single Market submitted four versions of the proposal
with the secretary of state’s office on Tuesday. While the crux of the
measures are the same, there are differences with respect to policies
around taxes and regulatory authority over THC-infused beverages, for
example.

The marijuana legalization law that voters passed in 2022 enshrined
regulations in the state Constitution, limiting the legislature’s ability
to make certain adjustments. The coalition behind the new initiatives is
aiming to strike much of that language and instead give a constitutional
mandate for lawmakers to develop statutory rules themselves.

Now that the measures are filed with the secretary of state’s office, there
will be a 50-day review process after which officials can certify the
language and clear advocates for signature gathering.

Once the campaign decides which version of the Single Market Amendment to
pursue, the plan is to gather about 300,000 signatures from registered
voters, beginning this fall. About 180,000 must be valid to secure ballot
placement, with specific requirements for signature thresholds from the
state’s congressional districts.

But that process could be complicated if the legislature moves forward with
a pair of proposals that are being considered during an ongoing special
session. One would revise Missouri’s congressional district map in a way
that advantages Republicans and the other would require initiatives to get
majority support in every congressional district across the state in order
to be enacted.

Also, not everyone in the cannabis space is on board with the new reform
proposal, with at least one Missouri marijuana industry association arguing
that it would amount to a “repeal” of the voter-approve legalization law,
while primarily benefitting the hemp market.

“Opposition from marijuana monopoly interests has blocked the pathway for
reasonable legislation to regulate hemp,” Eapen Thampy, lead petitioner for
the new effort, said in a press release on Tuesday. “Meanwhile thousands of
businesses and their employees face persistent political jeopardy as the
marijuana industry corruptly influences the levers of government. The
Single Market Amendment seeks to end the monopoly and create a free and
regulated market without favoritism.”

The measures say lawmakers “shall not create limits on the number of
licenses issued, geographic restrictions stronger than those for the sale
of alcohol or tobacco, or individual/entity licensing requirements stricter
than those for retail establishments selling tobacco or alcohol.” They
additionally specify that licensing fees for cannabis retail businesses
could not exceed those for retail liquor sales.

There also would no longer be a purchase or possession limit for marijuana
or hemp.

Among the initiatives’ provisions is one particularly unique policy that
would make it so people could not only grow their own cannabis at their
private residence, but also sell the product directly to other adult
consumers or to retailers through a regulated pathway that involves testing.

“We want to expand and protect the ability of the individual adults to grow
their own cannabis and process it for their own use,” Thampy told Marijuana
Moment last month.

“Part of this is ensuring that hemp is regulated and protected, and
marijuana is brought down to the free market level in terms of who can
produce and sell it fairly,” he said.

Other notable provisions in the initiatives include those that would allow
adults to self-certify as medical marijuana patients, provide a pathway for
expungements for those with convictions for possession, sale or
distribution of cannabis before August 28, 2027 and mandate retroactive
state-level tax relief for cannabis businesses that have been deprived of
their ability to deduct federal taxes under the Internal Revenue Service
code known as 280E.

The four initiatives that were filed on Tuesday share the same fundamental
goal, but there are unique differences.

For example, two of the measures would impose an 11 percent tax on
marijuana and hemp for the first 10 years of implementation. Those tax
dollars would be collected by the Department of Revenue to cover
administrative costs and then the remainder would go to a veterans health
fund. After that, cannabis would be taxed “using a per-dose equivalency
model, not exceeding taxes applied to alcohol, based on independent
scientific standards and public health data, reflecting comparable
psychoactive effects to alcohol.”

The other two initiatives use the alcohol parity taxing model immediately
after enactment.

Two versions would task lawmakers with enacting regulations for hemp THC
beverages that model existing rules for alcohol.


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Andrew Mullins, executive director of the MoCannTrade, told Marijuana
Moment in June that the forthcoming initiative would effectively “repeal
Missouri’s twice voter-approved cannabis legalization” laws, referring to
the passage of medical and adult-use reform measures.

“Missouri’s licensed, regulated marijuana industry generated $241 million
in state and local tax revenues last year alone and is roundly regarded as
one of the most impactful in the entire country,” he said at the time.

Drastically changing the state’s cannabis policy “would be a spectacular
failure, especially since it’s funded by bad actors who are currently
selling unregulated cannabis made overseas to Missouri children in gas
stations and smoke shops,” Mullins argued. “Missourians aren’t about to
take hundreds of millions away from local communities, veterans and our
justice system, all in hopes that politicians will eventually replace it
with something down the road. The voters of the Show-Me-State are far too
smart for that bait and switch.”

Meanwhile, Missouri’s hemp market has been facing increased pressure from
the state as officials attempt to crack down on businesses selling
intoxicating cannabis products such as THCA outside of the marijuana
program. The state attorney general sent over a dozen cease-and-desist
orders to such businesses in June, threatening potential legal action for
non-compliant businesses.

Lawmakers have contemplated multiple approaches, with different details on
what kinds of products would be allowed and what limits would be set on THC
levels in the products.

In February, legislation allowing low-dose intoxicating hemp beverages to
continue to be sold in grocery and liquor stores was reported favorably by
committees in both the House and Senate but was not enacted into law.

*Read the text of the Missouri marijuana ballot initiatives below: *

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Regulations For 2026 Ballot appeared first on Marijuana Moment.