Petitioners hoping to place medical marijuana proposals on the November ballots in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state turned in signatures to their respective Secretary of State offices this week. In all cases, the number of signatures far exceeded the state’s requirement to place an initiative on the ballot.
“These signatures represent thousands of citizens who care about relieving the suffering of patients with terminal or debilitating illnesses such as cancer and AIDS,” said Dr. Rob Killian of Washington Citizens for Medical Rights. The group collected over 230,000 signatures in support of their medical marijuana measure.
Proposals in all three states seek to exempt seriously ill patients from state criminal marijuana charges if they use the drug medicinally under a physician’s supervision.
Medical marijuana petitioners in Nevada are also awaiting validation from the Secretary of State’s office to determine whether they turned in the required number of valid signatures last month to certify their initiative. In addition, spokesmen from Washington D.C.’s ACT-UP announced they acquired enough signatures to place their proposal on the upcoming ballot..
A similar initiative filed in Alaska has already qualified for this year’s fall ballot.
“This will be an unprecedented opportunity for voters across the nation to voice their direct support for a seriously ill patient’s right to use marijuana medicinally,” NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup of NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or Dave Fratello of Americans for Medical Rights @ (310) 394-2952. Washington Citizens for Medical Rights may be contacted @ (206) 781-7716.
A COMPREHENIVE LOOK AT MARIJUANA’S MEDICAL HISTORY AND POTENTIAL AS AN ANALGESIC APPEARS IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF PAIN. THE AUTHOR, DR. ETHAN RUSSO OF THE WESTERN MONTANA CLINIC, HAS SOUGHT FEDERAL APPROVAL FOR OVER ONE YEAR TO CONDUCT CLINICAL TRIALS ON THE EFFECTS OF WHOLE SMOKED MARIJUANA AND MIGRAINE.