Dear Friends,
On Friday, May 4, 2018, the New Approach Missouri medical marijuana initiative campaign filed more than 372,400 signatures with the Office of the Missouri Secretary of State in Jefferson City. Only 168,000 valid signatures are required in order to place the legalization of medical access to cannabis for therapeutic purposes on the ballot in Missouri in November of 2018.
Fieldworks, the professional petitioning company retained by NAM did an excellent job of gathering signatures and keeping the campaign’s Board of Directors informed, on a daily basis, of the number of signatures gathered in each county and each congressional district in our state. We are virtually certain to have well in excess of the required signatures to be certified for the November ballot.
This accomplishment is the result of the generosity of hundreds of donors and the work of hundreds of volunteers who gathered signatures for this initiative. I thank all of you who have contributed generously to support this effort. I ask you to consider making a donation at this time to support the campaign to pass this measure by going to NewApproachMissouri.org.
All polling has indicated that support for medical marijuana in Missouri is well above 60%. Only 50% of voters is required in order for this initiative to succeed in amending our state’s Constitution. Although one or possibly two other medical marijuana initiatives may be placed on the ballot, ours will be first among the Constitutional amendments on this topic. If both of the two Constitutional amendment initiatives pass, the one with more votes will prevail.
The other two medical marijuana initiatives being circulated do not allow for any patient cultivation. The other Constitutional amendment initiative would impose the highest tax on medical marijuana in the country. That tax would go to support a medical research institute which will be required to be headed by one who is both a lawyer and a doctor. The individual who filed this initiative happens to hold both a J.D. and an M.D. degree. Further, that research institute’s board of directors will be hand-picked by the individual who filed the initiative, the same individual who will apparently be heading that research institute, which would be funded by imposing a high tax on medical marijuana patients, who would have no legal alternative to purchasing cannabis from dispensaries through this very restrictive proposal.
The other initiative proposes to enact a statutory law. If either of the Constitutional amendments passes, this statutory initiative will be rendered irrelevant. Further, the Missouri General Assembly has demonstrated that it will not hesitate to repeal or radically amend any statutory initiative passed by the voters.
Please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Dan Viets, Chair
New Approach Missouri
Board of Directors
For more info, please contact Dan Viets via email at danviets@gmail.com. You can also follow New Approach Missouri on FaceBook and Twitter!
Thank you Dan Viets! Thank you Fieldworks! Thank you to all the volunteers and donations, (Act Blue is Acting Green lately, isn’t it?)
I was so worried that the petiions wouldn’t be conducted professionally or vetted to make sure the notaries are reputable. But with these many signatures, Project SAM is going to focus elsewhere… Michigan, that means you. Keep your guard up and watch your notaries!
In a state with so many fine hospitals, this is a place where mmj can make a huge difference. I just cant wait to get high on top of the Moonrise Hotel…
Yes! Black lives matter!
Missouri is due a lot of Justice. Stop the arrests!
Great job, Missouri! A key state for full legalization, so let it happen next!
“The other two medical marijuana initiatives being circulated do not allow for any patient cultivation.”
This is the key to why the NewApproachMissouri initiative is superior. In order to protect the most poor and vulnerable medical patients from arrest, the fundamental right to home-grow must be enshrined in the state Constitution, in order to protect the right itself from drug warriors.
Well I guess this is a good idea. Please vote wisely guys.
Freaked me out for a sec. At first, I thought it said “initiative failed.”
haha.. Yeah, I thought I saw that for a brief second too.
So what does everyone think about Brad Bradshaw’s approach?…it sounds to me like he wants to bring in medical marijuana, but it seems like he is trying to get ONLY medical and it all has to go through him first so he can make all the money for HIS new research facility that HE will be head of….sure he is a doctor and a lawyer, but when did he become the state expert?
How does everyone feel about Brad Bradshaw wanting to impose the highest taxes on medical marijuana just to fund HIS new research facility in which HE will be the head of? When did he become the state expert on the subject?
He is a doctor and a lawyer and seems to want to get medical marijuana approved for Missouri, but is he doing it for the right reasons or all for himself?