July 22 saw Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, D, filing an ordinance to ban pre-employment cannabis testing for many government jobs. Following the ordinance file, Mayor Lucas tweeted the state “should not freeze qualified individuals out from government jobs due to marijuana usage, especially with medicinal marijuana legalized in Missouri and recreational marijuana legalized in surrounding states.”
The ordinance won’t apply to certain departments, similar to what Philadelphia, Pennsylvania passed in April. Law enforcement members, those who are required to have a commercial driver’s license, and those who supervise children, medical patients, the disabled, and other vulnerable people will still have to take a pre-employment cannabis test. All others won’t have to.
“Working to eliminate pre-employment marijuana testing from the City application process is one of several common-sense steps I’m proud my administration has taken to build an inclusive City workforce and ensure employment opportunities exist for more Kansas Citians — particularly for hourly workers who disproportionally come from Kansas City’s Black or brown communities,” Mayor Lucas said.
The state of Missouri only recently legalized medical cannabis for qualifying patients in 2018. Since then, the state has seen sales continue to soar. At the beginning of July, medical cannabis sales topped $70 million since October 2020 when sales began. A move from the city government to cease cannabis testing seems to reflect the popularity of the medical cannabis program.
Cannabis Future
While Kansas City is moving forward with reform efforts, cannabis has stalled in the state. Recently, Missouri Governor Mike Parsons, R, vetoed a bill allowing medical cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses from tax filings. This is something all other businesses in the state have, except medical cannabis dispensaries.
However, other states surrounding Missouri, like Oklahoma and Arkansas have both legalized medical cannabis. Illinois offers both medical and recreational cannabis. These outside forces may push Missouri to soon adopt further reform measures and potentially recreational cannabis. Only time will tell. For Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, his ordinance now rests in the hands of the city’s Special Committee for Legal Review for debate and discussion.
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