September 5, 2024
A Missouri Court of Appeals recently overturned a lower court’s ruling concerning THC-related offenses. This appeal rejected the lower court’s decision to bar expungements for individuals with such convictions.
Furthermore, this ruling expanded the applicability of an amendment to the state’s constitution passed by voters in November of 2022. The issue came to light after a Lafayette County judge’s decision concerning THC convictions. The convictions specifically involved THC possession and how the judge declared that the provisions of Article XIV of Missouri’s Constitution did not include expungement despite legalizing marijuana.
As such, the judge created a legal distinction between the possession of the main psychoactive component (THC) and marijuana itself. State law allows separate charges for these offenses, which happened in this case.
In this case, a state trooper pulled over the individual in 2017, who received separate charges for possessing marijuana and THC. When Missouri legalized marijuana and introduced provisions for expunging prior related offenses, the individual applied for an expungement for both offenses.
As a result, the Lafayette County prosecutor’s office expunged the possession of marijuana conviction but not the possession of THC. The office explained that the denied conviction fell outside the scope of the law. As such, it could not expunge THC records.
A Lafayette County judge later upheld this interpretation of the law and ruled that they cannot expunge convictions for THC possession under Article XIV.
According to Dan Viets, the chair of the national NORML board of Directors, the interpretation allowing judges to make separate charges for marijuana possession has “been on the books for many, many years,” and “rarely used until recently.” However, he argued that Article XIV did cover THC and other marijuana-related products.
Following this, the Court of Appeals also concluded that the language of Article XIV legalized “marijuana-infused products.” According to the legal definition, the legalization included any product dipped, sprayed, mixed, or coated with marijuana or an extract of marijuana. As such, the Court of Appeals claimed the courts could expunge the possession of THC. They also stressed how this result complies with the Missouri Constitution that voters adopted in November 2022.
Viets approved of this interpretation, stating, “The Western District court, correctly in my view, looked at the definition of marijuana in Article XIV and it clearly includes concentrates. It includes resins or extracts from the marijuana, the cannabis plant, and that is defined as marijuana.”
Disclaimer:
Information provided here is for educational and informational purposes only and should not constitute as legal advice. We recommend you contact your own legal counsel for any questions regarding your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.