Skip to main content

Idaho Medical Marijuana Activists ‘Likely’ To Seek Signature Gathering Relief After Court Ruling

A campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho is preparing to potentially collect signatures again, as they are likely to seek the same relief that a federal court recently granted a separate campaign that found its petitioning efforts crippled by the coronavirus pandemic.

The judge said activists behind Reclaim Idaho, which is pushing an initiative on school funding, can start collecting signatures in-person and electronically for 48 days starting July 9. While the Idaho Cannabis Coalition wasn’t involved in that case, they feel the ruling will apply to them and they’re actively monitoring the situation.

“We are in the process of working with the local medical marijuana campaign to assess whether Judge Winmill’s order provides a route for the medical marijuana initiative to still qualify for the November ballot,” Tamar Todd, legal director for the New Approach PAC, which is lending support to the state cannabis effort, told Marijuana Moment.

“The medical marijuana campaign is similarly situated to the Reclaim Idaho campaign and will likely ask for a similar extension of time and permission to collect signatures electronically from the Secretary of State, and if necessary, from the District Court,” she said. “I don’t know the exact timeline as there are a number of moving pieces but it will be quick.”

On June 23, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill gave the state two options: either allow electronic signature gathering for 48 days or simply place the Reclaim Idaho initiative on the ballot regardless of the signature requirement. The state chose neither and proceeded to request that the ruling be stayed.

The judge denied the state’s request to stay the order, so the signature gathering for the school funding campaign can proceed on July 9. The state has since filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to challenge the lower court’s ruling.

“The district court order severely and unquestionably disrupts Idaho’s election,” the state deputy attorney general wrote in the motion.

The deadline to submit 55,057 signatures to qualify the cannabis initiative passed on May 1, shortly after the group announced it was suspending petitioning activities because of the health crisis and the stay-at-home social distancing measures the state enacted. The cannabis campaign said it has about 45,000 raw signatures on hand at this point, and they’re confident that can fill the gap if they get the deadline extension and electronic petitioning option.

Under the proposed measure, patients with qualifying conditions could receive medical cannabis recommendations from physicians and then possess up to four ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants.

While advocates say passing medical marijuana in one of the remaining states without such policies on the books would be a victory for patients in its own right, it could also have outsized federal implications. A House-passed bill to protect banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses from being penalized by federal regulators is currently sitting in limbo in a Senate committee chaired by a senator who represents the state.

Creating a medical marijuana program in Idaho, which is one of small handful of states that don’t yet even have limited CBD laws, could put additional pressure on Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) to move the financial services legislation in Congress.

Summer Dreams Of Marijuana-Infused Slushies Are Melted By Oklahoma Regulators

Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan.

The post Idaho Medical Marijuana Activists ‘Likely’ To Seek Signature Gathering Relief After Court Ruling appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Original Article Source: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/idaho-medical-marijuana-activists-likely-to-seek-signature-gathering-relief-after-court-ruling/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mormon Church Faces Potential Lawsuit Over Medical Marijuana Opposition

Political committees concerned with marijuana law reform in four states have waged an information war over the past year, first to qualify cannabis initiatives for the ballot, and then to support or oppose those measures in the lead-up to last week’s midterm elections. In total, over  $12.9 million in cash and in-kind services was spent attempting to convince voters about these marijuana ballot measures. Now that voters have had their say, Marijuana Moment decided to calculate how much each “yes” and “no” vote cost the committees on either side of the debate. Our calculations are based on dollars raised and disclosed before the election, since final totals of actual expenditures won’t be available until December or January reports required in the states that voted on cannabis. Michigan In Michigan, where voters approved marijuana legalization , our calculations show that the two anti-legalization committees spent about $1.28 per “no” vote, as they raised $2.37 million for ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mississippi Lawmakers Put Competing Medical Marijuana Measure On Ballot, Frustrating Advocates

A congressional committee approved two bills focused on marijuana and military veterans on Thursday. The action is the first markup of cannabis-related legislation on Capitol Hill this year. The bills approved by the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee are geared toward expanding access to medical cannabis for the veteran population and increasing research into the plant’s therapeutic benefits for conditions such as chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Veterans Equal Access Act, sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), would allow doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend medical marijuana to their patients in states where it’s legal. It was approved in a vote of 15-11. “Today was a monumental day for our veterans. We have been working for years to reform this counterproductive policy that forces veterans outside of the VA to receive legal medical cannabis treatment for chronic pain and PTSD,” Blumenauer said after the vote. “This is...
Post a Comment
Read more

NY Dem Chair Warns Against Passing Voter-Supported Marijuana Legalization Bill

The head of New York’s Democratic Party said on Thursday that if the state Senate votes on a marijuana legalization bill, his party’s lawmakers run the risk of alienating voters and losing reelection next year. Jay Jacobs, the state party chairman, claimed that several “far progressive” measures, including cannabis legalization, lack popularity in certain areas across the state such as Long Island and upstate New York. He cautioned lawmakers against putting the issue to a vote, arguing that voters would “throw us out of office.” “It could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” he told Newsday. Polling doesn’t support that conclusion, though. According to a March 2019 survey from Quinnipiac, 65 percent of New Yorkers are in favor of allowing adults to legally possess cannabis for personal use. That includes 63 percent of respondents in upstate New York and 65 percent of those living in the suburbs. Sixty-six percent of independents statewide also back ending marijuana prohibit...
Post a Comment
Read more