The Wyoming Attorney General issued and approved ballot summaries for both the legalization of medical cannabis and the decriminalization of recreational cannabis. Now, activists can begin to collect signatures for each ballot measure. Both ballot measures received sponsorship from Wyoming NORML and the Liberitarian party. Earlier this month, the Wyoming Secretary of State also approved the ballot measures after receiving an initial 100 signatures apiece for consideration. Each measure has its own summary, which Wyoming NORML posted on their Facebook page.
“Wyoming Patient Cannabis Act of 2022: ‘Shall a law be enacted authorizing the Wyoming Liquor Division to regulate the cultivation, sale, and use of medical marijuana for medical treatment?’
“Wyoming Cannabis Amendments:’Shall a law be enacted to reduce criminal penalties for the cultivation, possession, use, and transfer of marijuana?’”
Previous Legislation
In December 2020, the University of Wyoming released a poll on how residents felt about cannabis. Eighty-five percent of Wyoming citizens support medical cannabis if a doctor prescribes it. Seventy-five percent of citizens agree with decriminalizing cannabis in small amounts.
Earlier this year, during the regular legislative session, Wyoming lawmakers tried to pass both medical and recreational cannabis bills. However, with a dominantly conservative House of Representatives, both bills failed to pass. This led to activists drafting their own ballot measures for the 2022 general election.
Activist Approach
Now comes the task of collecting 41,766 signatures, twice. Each measure — one for medical cannabis and one for decriminalization of cannabis — requires its own set of signatures. Each signature must be from a registered voter, though voters can put their signature on both measures.
Wyoming NORML Executive Director, Bennett Sondeno, said the organization is “excited to be working with our friends in the state and activists from across the country to bring these questions before Wyoming voters in 2022. We will have signing events around the state as soon as the secretary of state hands us the petitions,” he said.
Efforts to begin collecting signatures will most likely begin in September. Activists have until February of 2022 to turn in their collected signatures for the 2022 ballot. If they are unable to meet that deadline, they will then have until January 2023 to get the ballot measures on the 2023 ballot. With the continued support from the general public of Wyoming, activists expect signature collecting to run smoothly.
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