Missouri Nears 100,000 Cannabis Expungements Under Adult-Use Law

Missouri has expunged nearly 100,000 convictions as part of the adult-use cannabis constitutional amendment approved by voters last year, KMBC 9 reports. Under the law, nearly every misdemeanor cannabis conviction was to be expunged by June 8, except for offenders still incarcerated or currently supervised by the Department of Corrections, and felony convictions are supposed to be expunged by December 8.

Dan Viets, who wrote parts of the constitutional amendment, told KMBC 9 that while state officials “have not technically met the deadline” laid out in the law, as long as courts “are making a good faith effort to comply” with it, advocates will be satisfied; however, if communities don’t work on the expungements, lawsuits could be possible.

“…We’re dealing with a century of marijuana prohibition in Missouri. So, there are hundreds of thousands of cases.” — Viets to KMBC 9

John Mueller, co-owner of 31 Greenlight Dispensary stores, including 15 in Missouri, noted that adult-use cannabis sales are generating tax dollars for municipalities and the state and that those funds can be used for the expungement process.

“That’s one of the things that I think the industry is the most proud of,” he said in the report, “is getting that in the Constitution.”