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Utah
Related: About this forumUtah GOP guts voter-approved medical marijuana initiative after lobbying from Mormon church
Utah voters passed a medical marijuana law the Mormon church didnt like. So GOP legislators rewrote it as orderedIGOR DERYSH DECEMBER 14, 2018 11:30PM (UTC)
Republican state legislators in Utah replaced a medical marijuana initiative that voters voted into law with their own bill that has far stricter limitations on medical cannabis after lobbying from the Mormon church, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Voters approved Proposition 2 in November, making Utah one of 32 states to legalize medical marijuana. On the first day that the law went into effect, lawmakers in the state legislature voted along party lines to override voters and replace the law with a compromise that appeases the laws opponents, including the Mormon church.
The compromise bill reduces the 40 medical dispensaries permitted by Prop. 2 to only seven pharmacies. Most of the distribution will be state-run.
While Prop 2 legalized THC-infused edibles, the compromise bill bans most edibles except for gelatin cubes. The legislation also removed most autoimmune diseases from the list of illnesses that qualified for cannabis treatment.
After the legislation was signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert, two pro-marijuana groups that worked to pass the ballot initiative filed a lawsuit against the the state, arguing that the legislature violated the Utah constitution by overriding the will of the voters and that the Church of Latter-day Saints' involvement in the overhaul violated another part of the states constitution.
"Anything that defeats the right of the people to pass their own legislation under our constitution should be declared unconstitutional. Otherwise its totally illusory," Rocky Anderson, an attorney for the group TRUCE, told KSTU.
Voters approved Proposition 2 in November, making Utah one of 32 states to legalize medical marijuana. On the first day that the law went into effect, lawmakers in the state legislature voted along party lines to override voters and replace the law with a compromise that appeases the laws opponents, including the Mormon church.
The compromise bill reduces the 40 medical dispensaries permitted by Prop. 2 to only seven pharmacies. Most of the distribution will be state-run.
While Prop 2 legalized THC-infused edibles, the compromise bill bans most edibles except for gelatin cubes. The legislation also removed most autoimmune diseases from the list of illnesses that qualified for cannabis treatment.
After the legislation was signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert, two pro-marijuana groups that worked to pass the ballot initiative filed a lawsuit against the the state, arguing that the legislature violated the Utah constitution by overriding the will of the voters and that the Church of Latter-day Saints' involvement in the overhaul violated another part of the states constitution.
"Anything that defeats the right of the people to pass their own legislation under our constitution should be declared unconstitutional. Otherwise its totally illusory," Rocky Anderson, an attorney for the group TRUCE, told KSTU.
https://www.salon.com/2018/12/14/utah-gop-guts-voter-approved-medical-marijuana-initiative-after-lobbying-from-mormon-church/
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Utah GOP guts voter-approved medical marijuana initiative after lobbying from Mormon church (Original Post)
workinclasszero
Dec 2018
OP
randr
(12,480 posts)1. Time this cult is exposed for their manipulation of church/state separation
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)2. No doubt
It's frighting that a church can overturn the decision of the voters in an election in Utah or anywhere else.
Iwasthere
(3,376 posts)3. Wait, they can't
Can they?
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)6. Its already a done deal until overturned by a court anyway
Just like the republican coups in Wisconsin and Michigan by GOP lame duck governors and legislatures.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)4. GOPers are going
against voters approval of issues that they voted for. WI, NC, MI - went against voter's choices and preference for another party's governance. GA, FL and other red states just plain stole the election.
This looks an awful like a party on it's last leg and fighting any means necessary to keep relevance and power.
Times up!
Firestorm49
(4,198 posts)5. The will if the people be damned. "Money doesn't talk, it screams" B Dylan