“We are designating at least one way to show eligibility with very specific documentation but also allowing for applicants to show eligibility in other ways.”
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
In St. Louis in the 1980s, if you got caught with even a “butt of a joint,” you were going to do jail time, said Bob Ramsey, who was assistant public defender at the time.
Ramsey particularly remembers the head of the prosecutor’s marijuana task force, under then-Circuit Attorney George Peach.
“She was just absolutely ruthless and brutal,” Ramsey said. “You didn’t even bother to talk to her because you knew you were going to get a plea-bargain offer for jail time.
“Honestly, the Black defendants always seemed to get the worst treatment of all.”
The War on Drugs left many with criminal records that limited their economic opportunity for decades. Now, because of the way state regulators are writing rules for small marijuana businesses, people who live in St. Louis could lose out again—on the economic opportunity to sell legal pot.
Addressing the historic criminalization of Black residents for marijuana offenses has been a big topic of conversation surrounding Amendment 3, the constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana that voters passed in
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