Utah Medical Marijuana Advocates Given Approval to Begin Signature Gathering on Initiative
Advocates of a Utah initiative to legalize medical marijuana have been given approval to begin signature gathering.
Utah Patients Coalition have received approval from Lt. Governor Spencer Cox to begin collecting signatures in an attempt to place their medical marijuana legalization initiative on the November, 2018 ballot. The group must now collect 113,143 by January in order to put the measure to a vote of the people.
“We plan to gather the first signatures by next week and be finished prior to the 2018 legislative session in January,” said DJ Schanz, campaign co-director for Utah Patients Coalition, in a press release. “Our volunteers—many of them patients or caregivers themselves—have been ready and eagerly waiting; it feels good to know we will have scheduled events in the coming weeks for those who have waited years for this.”
If placed on the ballot and passed into law, the measure would legalize the possession, use and licensed distribution of cannabis-based medicines such as oils, tinctures and pills. Unfortunately actually smoking marijuana would remain prohibited.
According to polling release late last month, 78% of Utah voters support the proposed initiative to legalize medical marijuana,
