Voters in Washington state and Nevada will decide whether to legalize medical marijuana this fall, state officials affirmed last week. Voters in five states and the District of Columbia anticipate voting on this issue in November.
Washington’s Initiative 692 and the Nevada proposal seek to exempt seriously ill patients from state criminal marijuana penalties if they use marijuana under the supervision of their physician.
State officials in Alaska and Oregon previously certified similar initiatives for the November 3 ballot.
“These tightly worded proposals recognize that patients who use marijuana at the advice of their physician should not be victims of the ‘war on drugs,'” NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said.
Nevada state guidelines mandate the initiative to win voter approval this November and again in November 2000 before it can become law. Petitioners qualified for the ballot after a recount determined that more than 70 signatures disqualified by county officials were actually valid signatures.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup of NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or Dave Fratello of Americans for Medical Rights @ (301) 394-2952.
