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Advocates Petition For 2016 Medical Marijuana Vote

NORML

Wyoming marijuana advocates filed a petition to put an initiative to legalize medical marijuana on the 2016 ballot.

The Wyoming chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws filed the paperwork with the secretary of state’s office on Monday.

The group will have to collect more than 25,000 signatures by February 8th to get the initiative on the ballot. To become law, the initiative would have to be approved by a majority of Wyoming voters.

A University of Wyoming poll last year found that 72% of Wyomingites support medical marijuana in the state. Jim King is a professor of Political Science at U.W. and conducted the poll. He says while support for medical marijuana may look overwhelming in Wyoming, that doesn’t directly translate into votes. 

...they'll vote for president, they'll vote for U.S. representative, U.S. senator, but they won't continue down all the way to the end of the ballot to get to the initiative proposal.

"And because ballot proposals, whether it’s a constitutional amendment or an initiative proposal appears at the end of the ballot there are a lot of people who go in, they’ll vote for president, they’ll vote for U.S. representative, U.S. senator, but they won’t continue down all the way to the end of the ballot to get to the initiative proposal."

King also says while medical marijuana support is strong, Wyomingites remain firmly against legalizing recreational marijuana use.  

Jordan Giese is a political science major currently working on his bachelor's degree. He has lived in Wyoming all his life but has a focus on both local issues and international stories. He moved to Laramie just last year rediscovering Wyoming and all it has to offer in landspaces, opportunities and people. He has listened to WPR for years and is thrilled to contribute to an important state service and NPR.
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