A Missouri bill would make driving with marijuana in a container that’s not child- or odor-proof a crime punishable with up to one year in jail.
Representative Kent Haden (R-Mexico) says he filed the bill “due to public safety concerns” after the legalization of adult-use marijuana in Missouri.
House Bill 295 has so far gone no further than a single hearing. But if passed, it would require both drivers and their passengers to store marijuana in a “secured,” odor-proof and sealable child-proof container. It mirrors a similar law in Illinois that requires drivers to keep marijuana in a sealed, odor-proof and child-resistant container.
Amendment 3, now Article 14 of the state Constitution, greenlights possessing up to three ounces of cannabis at a time. It does not require marijuana to be transported in any special containers.
In an email to the RFT, Haden criticized the initiative that passed last November with 53 percent of the vote. With the amendment so “broad but vague,” Haden says, “What can the legislature do to protect public safety?”
Haden’s bill drew pushback from some supporters of Amendment 3.
“While driving under the influence of marijuana is strictly prohibited, we believe law-abiding citizens need a way to safely and compliantly be able to transport a small amount of this legal product to and from the privacy of their home, which the overly broad language in HB 295 would prevent in many instances,” says Jack Cardetti, spokesperson for cannabis association MoCannTrade.
John Payne, manager of the campaign that won Amendment 3’s passage, says it’d be up to the courts to decide whether Haden’s bill violates the state constitution.
But the bill could get tricky for people transporting cannabis plants that they are now legally allowed to grow on their own — plants that do not fit into commercial packaging. Of the packaging demanded in Haden’s plan, Payne says, “That’s just not how it works.”
“I don’t think there’s a right by the legislature to impose that on people as long as they’re within the possession limits and properly obeying the rules of how they cultivate it,” Payne says. “They should be entitled to have that on their person or property in pretty much whatever way they want.”
The bill would treat the conveyance of marijuana more strictly than alcohol. Missouri, unusually, has no statewide open container law. And depending on the municipality, non-driving passengers may also be allowed to possess an open container of alcohol and drink it while in a vehicle.
“We’d be treating marijuana more stringently than we do alcohol,” Payne says.
The bill would apply to most public roadways, including highways and alleys. Violations could result in a class A misdemeanor charge, punishable with up to one year in jail, a $2,000 fine or both.
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