To the Editor:
There are various ballot initiatives you will be voting on in the upcoming election on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Three different proposals are just on marijuana. Two of them are amendments to our state Constitution. Do we really want or need this issue in our constitution? Do we really want to lock ourselves into taxes and fees if this is supposed to be for medical purposes?
One of the proposals places approximately $25 to 30 per month taxes on what an average person would need in a month for medical purposes. This is in addition to the cost of the “drug.” If we are truly concerned about rising health care costs, this is not going to be cost effective for anyone who already has medical issues and costs. The one amendment is 12 pages long; one is 20 pages long and the proposition is 49 pages long. Do you understand what you are voting for?
Did you know:
• Medical marijuana is already legal in the state of Missouri for people with epilepsy. Why not work toward approval for other illnesses through the current law?
• Making a Constitutional Amendment is a serious prospect. Are we going to vote for an amendment and then find out what is in it later? (81 pages to learn what is actually in these proposals)
• Even if Missouri approves marijuana for medical purposes, it is still a federally controlled substance. It will not protect you against federal laws. Marijuana facilities in Colorado and other states are caught because they cannot use FDIC insured banks.
• Colorado approved medical marijuana in 2000; in 2012 they approved recreational use; now they are wishing they had never approved either and a group of individuals are working to get it stopped. Colorado is being sued by their own law enforcement agencies as well as at least two other states.
• The fees/taxes that are being proposed will not benefit the state of Missouri. They will be going to other specific organizations and funds.
• Medical marijuana can be put into candies, brownies, etc. How will kids know the difference? Will we start finding brownies in our classrooms that were designed as medicine but now being ingested by innocent children like Colorado has?
Please vote, but please be informed on this issue.
You may be in favor of medical marijuana but please do your research and consider the true reason for these ballot initiatives and look at the crime rates and effects of legalized marijuana on other states.
