TRUCE’s forerunner organization was started by a few people who somehow found each other and began meeting in coffeeshops back in 2014… …and now in 2018 as an organization which has grown to have hundreds of volunteers, thousands of followers, a board of professionals, a charter, access to media and more – and in a state now with a number of other sizable advocacy and activist organizations – it looks as if medicinal cannabis is about to reach a new milestone in Utah….
….we won’t jump up and down until the decision is official, but as the article notes, “With nearly 160,000 signatures gathered from across Utah, it appears medical cannabis will be on the November ballot for voters to decide.
The Utah Patients Coalition, which has been running the [signature-gathering] campaign, told FOX 13 it has had 120,000 signatures verified by county clerks. The Lt. Governor’s Office has validated 117,000 of those. That’s more than the 113,000 needed to qualify for the November ballot…”
However….
The signatures are still being verified by county clerks and the Lt. Governor’s Office. To qualify, supporters must collect the signatures of at least 10% of the registered voters in at least 26 of Utah’s 29 state senate districts. A few areas need some extra signatures, Schanz said. The deadline for that is April 16.
‘We’re continually encouraged by the numbers we get back,’ he said, adding that Utahns across the political spectrum have united over the issue. This is indeed going to be on the ballot for 2018.’
‘…the more conservative rural areas have actually been extremely supportive. They’ve seen the effects of the opioid epidemic more than anybody.’
The ballot initiative would be significantly more expansive than the Legislature has wanted, treating [far] more patients with more conditions. It’s that nature which has concerned lawmakers, who have preferred to take [very] incremental steps….”
After the above, the article turns to quoting familiar legislative and gubernatorial mealy-mouthing shibboleths, and you can read them, but we’re not focusing on them here for once, because it looks like the matter is actually and finally going to go to YOU, the voters of Utah…
….i.e., out of the clutches of the usual spoke-suspects in the “go (really, really) slow” and “there isn’t any real science” crowds… …and into your hands.
As once the Initiative is certified, as seems very likely now, the State of Utah WILL have an enacted medical cannabis program, if, as also seems likely, citizens turn out and support it with yes votes…
…and that won’t be the end of the story or of the fight for safe, legal, affordable access for all patients, but it will be huge and hard to take away from us…
#MMJ #Initiative #Signatures #UTpol #UtahNext #TRUCE
See full article – It looks like medical marijuana will be on the November ballot in Utah
