Wyoming should legalize Marijuana for medical use, and Wyoming should reduce criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of Marijuana.
93% of U.S. voters think marijuana should be legal for medical use. This includes 85% of Republicans and 95% of Democrats and independents.
Thirty–six states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories have adopted laws that allow people with certain medical conditions to use medical marijuana. An additional 13 states, including Wyoming, have adopted laws that recognize the medical value of at least some preparations of marijuana. Only one state — Idaho — has not approved any form of medical marijuana law. The United States Congress passed a bill to decriminalize Marijuana last week. Whether the Senate does the same remains to be seen.
Still, the State Legislature has refused to consider expanding Marijuana use or to reduce the criminal penalties for possession of a small amount of marijuana.
It would be mind-blowing that our elected officials would not introduce bills that are widely favored by their electorate except that for reasons totally beyond my understanding, Wyoming voters tend to elect people that are not the least bit responsive to their needs.
But I digress.
A majority of Wyoming voters support some level of legalizing Marijuana. Many would like to see Marijuana legalized for recreational use as well as medical use. The state is losing millions in sales tax as Wyoming residents travel to Montana and Colorado to spend their money – two states where Marijuana is fully legal.
Medical marijuana is proven to be effective in the treatment of a variety of debilitating medical conditions.
Among the conditions recognized to benefit from medical marijuana include; Reduce anxiety, reduce inflammation and relieve pain, control nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy, Kill cancer cells and slow tumor growth, Relax tight muscles in people with MS, stimulate appetite and improve weight gain in people with cancer and AIDS. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-safe-effective-medicine
To that end, there are two ballot initiatives active in Wyoming. A ballot initiative starts with collecting signatures of registered voters favoring changing the law. In this case, the initiatives are to legalize medical marijuana and to reduce criminal penalties for a small amount of Marijuana. To force the issue to the ballot, the organizers need to garner 41,776 signatures state wide, Natrona County needs to collect 5,309 signatures from registered voters.
I am helping circulate these petitions and I need more signatures. Actually I need a LOT more signatures. If you are interested in signing a petition, or better yet, helping collect signatures, contact me at 307-215-4732, email me at mbudenske@aol.com or friend me on Facebook
Mary Ann Budenske