Missouri voters OK’d marijuana, but petition has loopholes that will cause headaches

Words missing

The Jan. 15 front-page story, “Ballot battle; Missouri voters legalized marijuana and expanded Medicaid through statewide petitions. GOP lawmakers want to make that harder to do” on the Missouri General Assembly’s efforts to curtail initiative petitions missed a major point. The 39-page constitutional amendment voters approved in November to legalize possession of marijuana contains several flaws that cannot be addressed short of extensive, expensive litigation.

For example, language regarding expungement of prior convictions has a major oversight: It does not specifically require municipal courts to expunge convictions. Since most of these marijuana convictions occur in municipal courts, the drafters of this amendment negligently omitted necessary language.

Obviously, voters do not scan and study 39 pages of legal jargon before proceeding to polling places. As a result, it is important that the drafters of initiative petitions get it right to ensure the correct implementation of such measures.

Regardless of whether supporters of the amendment believe the legislature is attempting to suppress the will of the voters, they make it easy to argue that the initiative petition process needs to be changed, using the example of the sloppy, incoherent draftsmanship in this amendment.

– Mike Svetlic, Kansas City

Enemy inside

As a 72-year-old woman, I have seen the Vietnam War, the murders of Martin Luther King Jr. and two Kennedy brothers, the 9/11 attacks and today’s new wave of domestic terrorism.

These terrorists aren’t coming from outside our country, but from within. Why? Because they were not satisfied with the outcome of an election. We have election workers, members of Congress, governors and minorities of every stripe and their families being attacked, targeted in hateful ways and made to feel unworthy of living.

Where did this inhumanity come from? From right-wing extremists, white supremacists and some elected officials who are unwilling to call out the ugly and inhumane actions of their supporters. They ignore it, avoid it or, in some cases, create conspiracy theories to explain it away. Some even praise it.

It is time we call out the cowards among our leaders, hold them accountable for the hate and violence they foment, the propaganda they spread and the lies they spew — all for the sake of power and attention. We deserve better. We deserve leaders who will protect our Constitution and the American people.

It needs to be done. But who will?

– Lynn Humphreys, Pleasant Hill

Rhetorical games

Todd Graves’ Jan. 18 guest commentary about Missouri school funding is a good example of extremist language in propaganda. (14A, “School choices, not teachers’ unions, help”) Ignore the topic for a moment, and look at his words, which are often extreme, hyped-up rhetoric and clichés. On his side: “launching,” “empowerment,” “scholarship.” On the other side: “unions,” “special interest groups” (does he mean private schools?), “crush,” “political agendas,” “conflict,” “make millions,” “corrupt,” “ashes,” “flounder.”

You can’t tell me that underfunding public schools and underpaying teachers so that they perform poorly, opening the door for your group to open religious schools, isn’t a political agenda.

GOP extremists often use this trick to make their constituents fearful, wound around the axle and sometimes totally illogical: The idea that Medicaid expansion helping old, sick, poor folks is just a big government giveaway. That wearing masks during a pandemic transforms from “Protect yourself and your family and loved ones, and also your fellow human beings from a deadly disease” to “My freedom is being stolen.” That politicians who read the Constitution into the Congressional Record end up with a leader who says, “Forget the Constitution.”

Folks, you’re being played when guys like Graves use language to get you all spooled up.

– Bill Shefchik, Kansas City