“They’re surprised when I tell them that basically 25 guys are going to control 87 percent of the market,” he said. “They support me, and I am never going to be able to get a license under Amendment 3.”
So far the article has not really explained how Amendment 3 will effect licensing agreements and how that would impact small business owners. It's highlighting both sides of the debate, but leaving that information out makes me think the author favors the pro-amendment argument.
Bland Manlove fears that the legalization measure will only worsen these disparities. She’s also critical of language in the initiative that would essentially prevent small-business owners from doing business with larger entities. And she fears the licensing rules unfairly favor the state’s existing medical shops that have largely bankrolled the campaign
I don't really understand how legalizing weed would result in more arrests for the black community in Missouri, but I do understand that the state should not have so much power in the marijuana market.
The legalization campaigns in both Missouri and Arkansas are mostly industry funded, and would certainly benefit existing operators if they passed. Arkansas’ legalization question is generating similar backlash from some pro-marijuana advocates who fear further monopolization of medical cannabis businesses.
The author does get slightly more specific with what the exact issue the anti-amendment side has with it in terms of licensing, not by much but enough to give the reader the gist of it.
Black people are more than twice as likely as white residents to be arrested for marijuana in Jackson County, which includes Bland Manlove’s district. But go a little further outside the city and racial disparities spike: In neighboring Lafayette County, Black people are more than 10 times more likely to get arrested for marijuana, according to a 2020 ACLU report.
There is an incredibly disproportionate amount of black people being arrested for marijuana use in Missouri, which could change if recreational use is legalized
But the initiative would license medical marijuana dispensaries first without a lottery, giving them a head start over microbusinesses for adult-use sales.“This would be … very much not a free market,” said Republican Rep. Chris Sander, who is worried about the inability to fix what he sees as the initiative’s pitfalls if it passes. “To change it, we’d have to have another vote in an election.”
The license to sell marijuana licenses would be given to big players in the industry first, giving them a massive head start over small businesses and storefronts. I now definitely see the issue with amendment 3.
But Bland Manlove, along with other supporters of Hicks’ bill who range from progressive Democrats to libertarian-leaning Republicans, have emerged as some of the most vocal opponents of Amendment 3 — a recreational weed legalization question on the ballot
It's very interesting to me that someone who was apart of trying to legalize adult marijuana use is opposing an amendment that would legalize recreational weed.
Officials concerned about racial disparities and unfair licensing rules have pitted themselves against a medical marijuana industry that has spent millions of dollars to blanket this city with pro-amendment signage.
The anti-amendment side is concerned with small business owners not being able to take advantage of the legalization because of the licensing rules that would heavily favor the medical marijuana industry
“You’re gonna throw us a frickin’ bone by giving us ‘micro’ licenses? Not a full one?” said LaVaughn Hamilton, a medical cannabis caregiver who teaches others in the state how to grow cannabis at home through online content and coaching. “I call it the kiddie table.” The debate over the legalization initiative has, in some instances, turned into an ugly fight among longtime allies. Some pro-Amendment advocates suggested that people who were against the initiative simply hadn’t read it or understood the legalese.
I think that the anti-amendment side is on the money with this argument, having amendment 3 pass with those rules in place would devastate small businesses and private growers trying to make some money in the market.