COLUMBIA — Candidates for three seats on the Columbia City Council in the April 7 election responded in writing to 10 Missourian questions about city government issues. Here is the question the Missourian asked about the city's marijuana ordinances. Responses appear in the order the candidates will appear on the ballot.

Do you believe the city of Columbia should amend its ordinances regarding the cultivation and/or possession of marijuana? If so, how?

FIRST WARD CANDIDATES

On Wednesday, Missouri legislative committees approved four separate cannabis law reform bills. We already wrote to you about HB 978, which would free Jeff Mizanskey, who is serving life without parole for a non-violent cannabis offense, and was approved by the House Corrections Committee on Wednesday morning. As the day progressed, so did three other pro-reform bills.

March 2, 2015

Missouri has joined the growing number of states legalizing CBD-based medicines.

The state awarded cultivation and production licenses for hemp to two companies, Noah’s Arc Foundation and BeLEAF Corporation. Mitch Meyers, the head of BeLEAF, also has plans to open a medical marijuana dispensary near Chicago, according to a Missouri TV station.

Missouri is high on my list of states that could legalize marijuana by the end of 2016. Missouri has the strongest campaign team I have ever seen (Show-Me Cannabis), and I always say that if they can legalize in Missouri, they will prove that any state can do the same. Unlike Western and Northeastern states, where views towards cannabis are generally more liberal, Missouri is in the heart of America where reefer madness is much more prevalent.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri will soon begin to sell hemp oil. This week, the State Department of Agriculture granted licenses to two nonprofits to produce cannabis plants for hemp extract. 

In July of last year, Governor Jay Nixon signed into law the Missouri Medical Marijuana Bill that would allow people with severe seizures to use hemp oil as a medical treatment.

BeLeaf Corporation and Noah's Arc Foundation, both based near St. Louis, were selected to produce hemp oil for the state. 

Five-year-old Zayden Rayl suffers from a genetic condition that causes his body to endure multiple seizures every day. One of those seizures is called the grand mal, also known as the tonic-clonic.