A Missouri lawmaker filed a proposed constitutional amendment yesterday that would repeal Missouri’s current marijuana laws and replace them with a far more permissive system that removes possession caps, expands home cultivation, and adds broader workplace and criminal-justice protections.
House Joint Resolution 106, filed by State Representative Matthew Overcast (R), would repeal Missouri’s existing constitutional provisions regulating medical and adult-use marijuana and substitute a new framework covering marijuana and hemp. Unlike current law, which sets possession and purchase limits and includes various licensing restrictions, the proposal would write into the constitution a system built around broad personal-use rights and fewer limits on the market. As a constitutional amendment, it would require approval by lawmakers and voters to take effect.
Under the resolution, adults 21 and older would be allowed to possess, use, cultivate, gift and share marijuana and hemp with no state-imposed purchase or possession limits, a major change from current law, which generally limits adult-use possession and purchases to 3 ounces. The medical program would also be reworked, with qualifying patients 18 and older eligible for medical identification cards valid for at least five years, with options for 10-year or lifetime cards. Physicians and nurse practitioners could certify medical need, and lawmakers could authorize patient self-certification, though minors would still require a parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver.
Home cultivation rules would be expanded as well. Current law allows home cultivation with a state-issued cultivation card, generally capped at six flowering plants per individual with no more than 12 flowering plants per residence, along with limits for nonflowering plants and clones. The proposal would allow both medical patients and adult-use consumers to grow up to 10 flowering plants, 10 nonflowering plants over 14 inches, and 10 clones, and it would allow two or more patients to share one enclosed, locked cultivation facility. It would also broaden gifting and sharing by allowing it without restriction, instead of tying it to current possession limits.
The proposal would also add sweeping legal and workplace protections. It states that lawful marijuana or hemp activity for personal or medical purposes could not result in arrest or criminal or civil liability under Missouri law, could not be used as the basis for parole or probation violations, and could not trigger asset forfeiture. It would also bar discrimination for lawful off-duty use, while still allowing employers to prohibit use during work hours. The resolution would mandate expungement of nonviolent marijuana- or hemp-related offenses committed before August 28, 2027, and create a retroactive release program for people incarcerated for expungeable offenses, with a requirement that releases occur before Jan. 1, 2030.
Retail marijuana and hemp sales would remain taxable, but the combined state and local rate would be capped at 11%, with revenue directed first to program administration and then split evenly between the Missouri Veteran’s Commission, community-oriented benefits administered by state agencies, and the Missouri Public Defender.
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