I am by no means a "pothead," as they're called, so this has little direct effect on me personally, but there is no reason I can think of for me to support the war on weed.

Nobody here seems to be talking about this, which surprises me. First of all, St. Louis just decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana in the City, which was a huge deal in the cannabis community nationwide. Even as far as Olympia, WA people were talking about that. More importantly, however, is Show-Me-Cannabis.

They are looking to "LEGALIZE IT" in Missouri either this year or 2016. The cannabis community is expecting Missouri to be one of the first states to do it. I was reading today about how Colorado is seeing massive new warehouse construction to house the growing facilities. Take a look at these numbers, too:

"Created Jobs: Colorado sold $578 million worth of pot TODAY alone
Cut Spending: The cost of our war on cannabis is $51 billion a year"
(http://hennessysview.com/2014/01/02/war ... cans-lost/)

Imagine where else that money could be spent. What if that went to light-rail infrastructure or public schools? What about the decrease of crime in places like CO , WA, and Uruguay? Drug dealing is of course illegal in itself, but the worst part of it is the violence it causes as a result, much like alcohol prohibition in the 1920's. Think of how well marijuana dispensaries and bars will anchor the areas where they open. These would fit right in with the Grove, East Loop, Cherokee, S. Grand, Midtown Alley, Laclede's Landing, etc., and help to bring more activity to other, lesser-known commercial areas as well, and attract more businesses there. "Oh, look at all these potheads, they must be hungry. Better open a restaurant next door."

The money from taxes and tourism, decreased number of dealers and crime, suppliers' ability to attract other businesses, and the tens of thousands of retail and industrial jobs created would be a transformative experience for the state and the City. I believe Show-Me-Cannabis is looking at 2016 as the year they do it. I remember they were close to getting it on the ballot in 2012 as well, where it may have passed, although marginally, alongside WA and CO, although OR did fail that year. We have two more years to see how good or bad things go in WA, CO, and whoever else legalizes it this year. If things go well, which they likely will for the most part, then I'm all for MO going for it as well.

Here's the reality of the situation: Legalization is happening all over the nation whether you or I approve of it or not, just the same as same-sex marriage. The best thing to do, whether you are for or against it, is to embrace the positive effects it will have on the economy and crime rate. This is especially important here in St. Louis.

And imagine all these young folks saying "When I move out of my parents' house, I'm going to SAINT LOUIS! It's hip, it's popular - - weed is legal there, but it's cheaper to live there than the coasts!! SAINT LOUIS is where it's at!" When I lived in Olympia, it was mind-boggling how many people moved to WA simply for its lenient marijuana laws. I would ask people why they would leave good cities like San Francisco and Chicago for Olympia and Seattle and their response, nearly 100% of the time, was because weed is legal in WA now. That's it. They relocated just for that.

I have never touched Marijuana.

But this needs to happen. It not only makes sense from a freedom standpoint (without major health concerns being an issue), but it also makes SO MUCH financial sense.

(We also need to pass a marriage equality law asap. It's embarrassing that we don't allow it now. It will be worse if we're one of just a handful of states left.)

Yeah, and it's not like weed is hard to get right now anyway. As a teen in high school, it was easier for us to get a bag of weed than it was for us to find someone who is old enough to buy alcohol and try to convince them to buy us beer. Drug dealers don't care that you're 16, they'll sell it to you anyway. By the way, under the new law, you would have to be 21+ to purchase it.

As a matter of fact, marijuana use was at its lowest point BEFORE prohibition started. Ever since it became illegal, it has become far more popular. Maybe once it's legal again, potheads won't have anything to talk about anymore. And you know, you don't see guys getting on the bus and starting fights because they smoked weed. Alcohol, though? All the time. You get high, you don't want to pick on anybody, you just want to laugh about how funny the bus driver's hat looks.

So let's get these stoners' money into the pockets of the dispensary workers, growers, other employees and the City where everyone can enjoy it, not just a select few dealers.

I wouldn't worry so much about any population gain we see over it, I'd say there's two other more important factors, one abstract, one more tangible.

The first is that we'd be seen a progressive and forward thinking region. And not only would we be seen that way nationally, maybe that would snowball here and become more true than it already is. That could only lead to other good tangible things for us.

The second is the money it would save us/bring in. Certainly that's MORE money if there's a population gain, but even if not a single soul moved to St. Louis, that's a lot of new money. Definitely a positive.

It's not like there would be a MAJOR population boom, especially since about 3 or 4 other states are likely to do it with us between now and 2016 as well, so we won't be that special. However, it will help a little, I'm sure, and will give college kids something fun to do on weekends that they can't do in most other states. I can't stress enough how important this was to people's decision to move to WA from better places just because of the weed. This is a huge deal for those people. Like, really. Just the same as someone might move from one city to another because it has better public transportation, so too will they move for progressive marijuana laws. The tourism, though, is going to really be something else! If we're one of only about 5 or 6 states (for a little while anyway) where it's legal, people are going to want to visit. You know how these hippies are - - they will make these legalization states into some kind of caravan where hundreds of them go on a trek to each one every year.

Now let's get to the part everyone has been waiting for. Let's look at the numbers:

"A study cited by AFP estimated that the Colorado state government could reap an annual $10 billion by 2018, but private companies already have reason to celebrate. MediaSwipe Inc, which has built a business on selling transaction processing systems to the medical industry and now works with cannabis stores, has seen its shares jump 88 percent over the past month of trading and 69.4 percent on Thursday alone. "

"Most of the cannabis stores are located in an around the Denver area, where shop owners estimated they collectively sold $1 million within the first 24 hours. Retail buyers are charged a 10 percent tax for every sale and a 15 percent excise tax which varies based on the average market rate. The first $40 million in taxes will be put toward the school system with any tax dollars after that dedicated to regulations."
(http://rt.com/usa/marijuana-stock-soars ... llion-162/)

What would you want to see $10 billion go to in St. Louis?

Other states did the same thing with gay marriage and have since reversed that. However, we're a little ways away from doing that. I know there are groups working on it and I hope they are successful but that won't happen until after marijuana legalization, I'm sure.

I've been following MO Marijuana legalization for a long time now. The liberals of STL, KC, and Columbia are of course in support of it. The surprising thing is that rural residents support it much more than you would think, too. Conservatives like them want small government, and legalization is a step in that direction. Also, it would be a big money making crop for them. It's also significant that before prohibition, MO and KY were the nations leaders in growing cannabis, both marijuana and hemp (there is a big difference). Besides, what is there to do out in the country except get high anyway? A lot of Show-Me-Cannabis' work on the road has been in small rural towns all throughout MO. They have received loads of support out there.

The only real threat is the suburban parents, although it's not like legalization will make it any easier for their kids to get it. They can already get it at school any time they want. It's easier to get than alcohol, because like I said before, a drug dealer isn't going to card you. I also mentioned that the national cannabis community has its eyes on a few key states right now and MO is near the top of that list. Many advocates who have been working on this for decades are looking to us to be one of the next few states to do it.

We're in an incredible climate to be growing it, too!

I actually will not be surprised if MO is the first state to jump right into recreational legalization straight out of the prohibition, completely the skipping the medicinal phase like CO, WA, and many other states. Just because it's meant for recreation doesn't mean we won't also set up some medicinal dispensaries at the same time, it's just there won't be any point in doing that if you don't need a prescription to buy it. I also don't really believe we'll be the 15th state to do it, I'm really looking more at the first 5 depending on how many pull it off this year and then again in 2016. Hopefully a lot of them do, even if we're not the first of those. It's not a race and every state is a victory, but yes, the novelty of it will be less significant for us as more states do it. Luckily, we've got the furthest out of all midwestern states specifically, so at least we will probably be the first state in this region of the country to do it.

I've always thought the alcohol lobby (along with Big Pharma) were the two main funding sources for opposition to legal marijuana, which suggested to me that AB's influence in Missouri would be a detriment to legalization efforts. Although with Colorado being the long time home to Coors (aside: not sure how big Coors in now that its been bought/merged/globalized, etc) that may not be a major factor anymore. Slate had an article recently that echoed some of this. http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/201 ... sking.html

Consumption preferences aside, I am in favor of legalization, and am very interested in the business side as I think there is tremendous opportunity to be had in this market. I saw where High Times is starting a venture capital fun for cannabis related businesses, who understandably have difficulty accessing traditional funding & operational capital and even opening bank accounts in some cases.

For it to get on the ballot, Show-Me-Cannabis must acquire about 150,000 signatures. It was very close last time, just a few thousand away. In 2016 it will surely come much more easily. Once it makes it to the ballot, MO residents can vote on it.

^ That's great!

There is another approach to marijuana policy reform that isn’t mentioned often, and that is decriminalizing marijuana rather than legalizing it. Decriminalizing marijuana would mean, possession or use of a small amount will lead to a civil offense (a fine), similar to what is currently happening in St. Louis City. Enforcing this approach would create consequences at the civil level, yet avoid arrest records that can create long-term burdens when trying to find a job. This helps keep use down especially among kids. Here in St. Louis, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (NCADA) advocates for this with local and state politicians, www.ncada-stl.org, and a national group that works on this is www.learnaboutsam.com.

Article from St. Louis Public Radio about the push to legalize in Missouri. While 2016 might be more likely, it sounds like there's a possibility this could be on the ballot later this year.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/bac ... a-missouri

Decriminalization isn't good enough unless there is NO penalty as long as you're 21+. There's no reason an adult should get in trouble for this. Alcohol and tobacco are worse, but we don't get in trouble for those, so. I think if we're going to go with decriminalization, there can't be any chance whatsoever of getting in trouble. But if we're going to go that far with it, we might as well legalize it so businesses can make some money off it, and not just some guy hanging out at the Circle K parking lot.

jstriebel wrote:Article from St. Louis Public Radio about the push to legalize in Missouri. While 2016 might be more likely, it sounds like there's a possibility this could be on the ballot later this year.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/bac ... a-missouri

They'd be better off to wait until 2016. Presidential election year brings a much higher turnout of young, urban and minority voters that are more open to legalization. Midterm elections tend to favor candidates and issues favorable to the older, whiter, exurban and rural tea party crowd.

I don't think people here are very in tune with rural politics. I think you'd be very surprised how pro-legalization many of the "rural, white, tea partiers" are. Show-Me Cannabis has recieved great support in rural areas.

Yes, as I said on page 1, many of the people leading Show-Me-Cannabis are ultra far right conservatives and ex-cops. A lot of their work is done in small rural towns. Conservatives wants small government and farmers need work. This is one issue people on both sides of the political spectrum and from both rural and urban areas can agree on.

I'm sure plenty of rural people support legalization. I think the bigger divide is age. And older voters tend to dominate midterm elections.

Even in Colorado which is quite a bit younger and more socially libertarian than Missouri the vote to legalize was 55-45 in a presidential election year when Obama won the state.

Also we are the Show Me State, not the We'll Show You State. In November of 2014 I could see a lot of voters thinking the jury is still out on the pros of legalization in Colorado and Washington.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it pass this year. The realist in me thinks we need a little more time though.