(Missourinet) -A bill that would legalize medical marijuana is close to being debated by one chamber of the Missouri legislature.

HB 800 is sponsored by State Representative Dave Hinson of St. Clair, who presented the bill before a House committee on Emerging Issues last month. Hinson’s bill would legalize medical cannabis and create a system for its cultivation and distribution. After two amendments were added to tighten regulations, that bill has now cleared two House committees.

On Tuesday, the bill unanimously passed in the General Laws committee chaired by State Representative Caleb Jones.

“In my opinion, I think it was a bill that the entire body of the House of Representatives should really discuss,” said Jones. “Obviously, various states throughout the entire country are doing this and implementing this … and by passing it out of our committee, I think the entire House of Representatives will have the opportunity to discuss this bill and its merits on the floor.”

The bill has been changed to specify it won’t legalize medical use of synthetic marijuana, and patients suffering from certain illnesses such as Hepatitis C have been removed from the list of those it would make eligible. The amount patients could possess per month was decreased from 2.5 ounces to 30 grams. One of the amendments requires the fingerprinting of patients and monitoring by police agencies when patients receive medical marijuana.

“Obviously, this is probably a much more conservative look of a bill for this, but it’s also something we want to make sure the people of Missouri are comfortable with before we pass anything else,” said Jones. “I think that it’s our job as representatives to make sure that all avenues of treatment for anybody who’s sick are examined and determined whether or not they should be provided here in the state of Missouri.”

Before the bill can be debated on the House floor, it must be approved by the Select Committee on Rules.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican-controlled Senate has advanced a bill that would expand eligibility for persons with disabilities to receive Medicaid.

Senators advanced the bill in a voice vote Tuesday and will vote a second time before it moves to the House.

Currently single Missourians can’t have more than $1,000 in assets to qualify for the federal health care program, with married couples capped at $2,000.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey’s bill would increase that to $2,000 and $4,000 respectively, with those caps to increase yearly.

The legislation spurred debate between two GOP lawmakers over a larger expansion of the federal health care program.

Republican Sen. Ryan Silvey of Kansas City is one of a few GOP members in support of larger expansion. Party leaders have called it a nonstarter.

Two defendants have pleaded guilty in federal court to crimes related to the distribution of thousands of kilograms of synthetic marijuana, commonly referred to as K2.

Sharon Elizabeth Harrington, 27, of Bunceton, Mo., and Chadwick James Schlicht, 44, of Osage Beach, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth on Monday, March 31, 2015.

Harrington pleaded guilty to participating in a mail fraud conspiracy in Boone County, Mo., from March 2011, to December 2013. Harrington, who was the manager and ran the day-to-day operations of Impulse Market, LLC, was responsible for overseeing the manufacturing process for what was falsely labeled as “incense” or “potpourri” and was labeled “not for human consumption.” Harrington admitted that this “incense” or “potpourri” was actually synthetic cannabinoids mixed with acetone then sprayed onto a plant-like material. These substances, which were mailed or delivered by commercial carrier, were intended for human consumption as a drug in order to obtain a physiological effect of a high. Harrington admitted that she conspired to defraud the Food and Drug Administration and the public by mailing products that were misbranded and bore false and misleading labeling.

Based upon the invoices, bank records, and products seized by law enforcement, Harrington (through her employment with Impulse Market), oversaw the manufacture, sale and distribution of synthetic cannabinoid products, which were produced from approximately 167 kilograms of synthetic cannabinoids obtained from China. Harrington admitted that she sold, in aggregate, multiple kilogram quantities of synthetic cannabinoid products.

In one example cited in the plea agreement, Harrington mailed a parcel of synthetic marijuana to a business in Oklahoma on May 6, 2013. In return for the products, Impulse Market was paid $89,458.

Schlicht pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Schlicht admitted that items seized from his residence by Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers were intended for the manufacture of synthetic marijuana. State troopers executed a search warrant at Schlicht’s residence on Oct. 27, 2012. They seized $1,840, three firearms, numerous packages of synthetic marijuana, and numerous materials related to the manufacture of synthetic marijuana (including packaging materials, bulk amounts of plant-like materials, labels, cans of acetone and two bags containing a total of more than 1.4 kilograms of synthetic powder that is a controlled substance analogue.

Under federal statutes, Harrington and Schlicht are each subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Update 3:30 p.m. – (Missourinet) – The family of the state auditor’s office spokesman, Spence Jackson, wanted a note found in his apartment Sunday to be released in hopes of ending some speculation into why he apparently committed suicide.

Jefferson City Police say Jackson died from a single gunshot wound to the head, and they are investigating his death as a suicide. Ballistics testing of a .357 Magnum revolver found with him and the bullet it fired, and gunshot residue testing of his hand, are continuing.

Police Captain Doug Shoemaker told the media what was contained in the note found with Jackson but declined to release a copy or image of it.

He said the note read, “I’m so sorry. I just can’t take being unemployed again.”

“We understand the media’s desire to know the contents of the letter. This interest is based on what is certainly speculative from a variety of alleged sources,” said Shoemaker. “In the interest of providing some context to this tragedy or at least to eliminate some of that speculation, it’s the family’s expressed desire that we release the content of the note in its entirety to the media.”

“I think that the letter, at its face value, is maybe not as … not what you were thinking it would be, potentially,” Shoemaker told reporters Tuesday. He said the family wanted the letter released, “probably because of what has been put out in the media in terms of possibilities and questions and queries and different types of things, and it was the family’s belief that this could help potentially clear things up.”

“To eliminate that speculation, I think, is very key to the case and perhaps even more importantly, key to the family not having to deal with some of those perceptions and those issues,” said Shoemaker.

Jackson’s letter had Friday’s date on it. Shoemaker said that meshes with the preliminary indications of the investigation that his death occurred Friday afternoon or evening.

“He did report to work on Friday for a partial day,” said Shoemaker. “He was, in fact, in his office on Friday, as he was seen by many of his co-workers, but left at noon, presumably for a lunch break, and he did not return to the office.”

“We’ve spoken with those that were there and who talked with him, and they reported no behavior out of the ordinary,” Shoemaker added of the Auditor’s staff.

Shoemaker said there is no indication so far that Jackson’s death was anything other than a suicide, or that it was motivated by anything other than what was indicated in his note.

Jackson was still employed by the state auditor’s office at the time of his death. His interim replacement, David Luther, responded to a Missourinet inquiry as to whether Jackson’s employment status had changed, or whether he had been given an indication it would be.

Luther replied, “When Interim Auditor John Watson took over, he met with senior staff. At that time he noted that every one’s job was secure, but that when the new interim was appointed, there would be a possibility of change. There were no individual conversations with staff.”

Shoemaker said the investigation is continuing to trace back Jackson’s activities in the hours and days before his death.

 

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The note left by the Missouri auditor’s spokesman before his apparent suicide said “I just can’t take being unemployed again.”

Jefferson City Police Capt. Doug Shoemaker said Tuesday that the note from Spence Jackson was dated March 27.

Shoemaker also said Jackson died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Jackson was found dead Sunday in his Jefferson City apartment.

His death came about a month after Jackson’s boss, state Auditor Tom Schweich, fatally shot himself at his home in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton.

Shoemaker read the full note at a news conference. It said: “I’m so sorry. I just can’t take being unemployed again.”

Police are investigating Jackson’s death.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police investigating the apparent suicide of the Missouri auditor’s spokesman say they will be discussing the contents of a note that he left behind.

Jefferson City police have scheduled a Tuesday afternoon press conference to talk about the note and release the preliminary findings of a medical examiner’s report.

Spence Jackson was found dead Sunday in his Jefferson City apartment of what police have described as an apparent self-inflicted gunshot. Jackson’s death came about a month after his boss, Auditor Tom Schweich (shwyk), fatally shot himself.

Schweich’s suicide occurred just minutes after he told a reporter that he wanted to go public with allegations that the head of the Missouri Republican Party had made anti-Semitic remarks about him. The party chairman has denied doing so.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials are waiting to see whether state tax collections this month met expectations.

The state Department of Revenue’s report to be released Tuesday afternoon comes as lawmakers worked on proposals to erase a budget shortfall projected at nearly $600 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Tax collections for the current fiscal year through February were $38 million short of official projections, about 1 percent less than anticipated.

But the state collected $27 million more in taxes than expected for February alone.

If tax collections exceed expectations again this month, it could make closing the projected budget shortfall easier for lawmakers and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

The budget shortfall arose after lawmakers aggressively cut personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging to stimulate the economy.

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has refused to reduce the bond of a man accused of shooting two police officers during a rally in Ferguson.

Jeffrey Williams is accused of wounding the officers on March 12, during an early-morning rally sparked by the resignation of Ferguson’s police chief. Both officers are expected to recover.

His attorneys asked that his $300,000 cash bond be reduced so he only would have to come up with $10,000. But the request was denied Tuesday during a hearing in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

Williams is charged with felony assault, armed criminal action and a weapons offense.

Prosecutors allege the 20-year-old told investigators he fired a gun but was aiming at someone else. His attorney says Williams never fired a weapon that day.