The court debate Tuesday over how Missouri marijuana products get taxed statewide sounded similar to a grammar class on conjunctions and comma placement.
The constitutional amendment voters approved in 2022 legalizing recreational marijuana allowed local governments to impose additional sales tax on the products.
The big question before the three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District on Tuesday was: what did voters intend by "local government?"
Attorneys for St. Louis and St. Charles counties argued the word "and" is key in the definition laid out in the constitutional amendment. It states that "local government" means, "in the case of an incorporated area, a village, town, or city; and, in the case of an unincorporated area, a county."
