50,000 Missouri marijuana cases expunged since start of recreational sales, attorney says

The equity measures in the adult-use marijuana law passed by voters in November has so far expunged upward of 50,000 cases in Missouri, said Dan Viets in a call last week with the Boone County Muleskinners.

He was providing an update on progress made following implementation of the state constitutional amendment.

Viets helped craft both the medical marijuana and adult-use (recreational) marijuana amendments passed by voters in 2018 and in November, respectively.

"The issue is not about getting high. The issue is about stopping the criminalization of a large portion of our population. People who are good, responsible citizens who do not deserve to be treated like criminals," Viets said, adding while counties did not make the June 8 deadline for the automatic misdemeanor expungements, many are making good-faith efforts to do so and there are others that are not.

For the counties dragging their feet on expungements, lawyers may seek a mandate from the Missouri Supreme Court, he added.

"The single-most important equity measure is we do not arrest people for marijuana use and possession any longer," Viets said referencing the ACLU report "The Ware on Marijuana in Black and White."

"It brought out the shocking disparity in the arrests rates of Black and white Americans. According to all the data we have, Blacks and whites use marijuana at roughly the same percentage, and yet, in Missouri for instance, 2.6 times more African-Americans have been arrested for marijuana."

Viets estimates barring arrests for use or possession will result in 20,000 fewer arrests, allowing police to focus on other matters, such as violent crimes, or departments not needing as high a budget because of this work reduction, even though that is not what they are requesting, he said.

The extra legwork put on county circuit and municipal courts for the automatic expungements are offset by the 6% sales tax collection on adult-use marijuana, Viets said. Roughly $3.5 million in sales is happening daily in Missouri, he said, referencing an industry report.

"That's a lot of tax revenue and that money is available to support additional staff that should be hired to get these expungements done," he said.

Following completion of expungements, the tax is intended to support veteran services, substance use treatment and supporting the state's public defender offices.

Counties and municipalities also have the option of imposing up to 3% sales tax on adult-use sales, but the question of stacking the taxes still needs a resolution, Viets said. Columbia and Boone County passed the 3% taxes, and with stacking that is at least a 12% sales tax if all three (city, county, state) are applied.

More: Boone County, municipalities pass sales taxes on recreational marijuana

"I expect litigation will result in saying no. That the county can collect taxes outside the city limits and that the city can collect taxes within city limits, but I do not think we are going to have an additional 6% tax," Viets said.

Another equity measure is giving disadvantaged individuals a way into the industry through microbusiness licenses. These licenses are for those without the hundreds of thousands of dollars that was needed to start medical and now adult-use operations.

The application period opened Thursday and will run for two weeks. The state will award operator licenses in October. Further award periods are planned in 2024 and 2025. The Columbia City Council at its July 17 meeting lessened its business license fee for the microbusinesses, which can either be dispensary or wholesale cultivators with up to 250 plants.

Those who can apply include those living in high-poverty communities, service-disabled veterans or those who were previously arrested for marijuana offenses, Viets said.

More: Columbia City Council works to minimize marijuana microbusiness barriers

The first round of licenses from the state includes four wholesale and two retail in each of the state's congressional districts and any person not selected by the state to receive an operator's license will receive their application fee of $1,500 back. Selections are done through a lottery system. Boone County is split by two districts, so while there is potential for 12 new businesses in the county, there are 38 counties, in whole or in part, across the third and fourth congressional districts.

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Dan Viets points to 50,000 Missouri adult-use marijuana expungements