Senator Barbara Anne Washington Strongly Supports Marijuana Legalization and Expungement of Records

State Sen. Barbara Anne Washington, D-Kansas City, issued the following statement:

Sen. Washington, official photo — Sen. Barbara Washington (D-KC)

“Marijuana prohibition is needlessly harmful and has the largest impact on communities like the one I represent in the Missouri state Senate. It’s especially harmful to those with past marijuana offenses on their records who struggle to get jobs and provide for their families. That’s the main reason I’m strongly supporting Amendment 3 to legalize marijuana for Missourians 21 years and older. Amendment 3 will take part of the substantial tax revenue from marijuana sales in Missouri to automatically and permanently expunge the records of past nonviolent marijuana offenses, becoming the very first state to do so by a vote of the people. This is not a perfect solution but I do believe Amendment 3 represents meaningful progress; this amendment has many positive outcomes for our community that outweigh the negative aspects. Missourians can’t afford to wait years longer to enact this vital criminal justice reform. The time to legalize cannabis in Missouri is now. Please join me in voting yes on Amendment 3 on Nov. 8.”