A Missouri judge ruled a St Louis man had no legal right under Missouri’s Right to Farm amendment to grow marijuana plants. The St Louis Post-Dispatch reports the judge sentenced Mark Shanklin to 120 days of jail time and five years’ probation after being found guilty of drug charges. The man didn’t dispute he was growing more than 300 marijuana plants in his home, but argued the Right to Farm amendment guarantees the right to cultivate marijuana. Missouri’s Right to Farm amendment was passed by voters in 2014 and states farming practices “shall be forever guaranteed in this state.” Shanklin argued that state laws prohibiting marijuana cultivation are at odds with the amendment. But the judge ruled that Marijuana is not a common item harvested, and that “even when constitutional amendments are designed to address government overreach…they are seldom intended to give citizens free rein to harm themselves or others.” A similar defense failed for a Jefferson City, Missouri woman in 2015 after being caught with nine marijuana plants in her basement.
Missouri Right to Farm does not apply to marijuana
