Advocates in Wyoming are working to place two cannabis measures on the state’s 2024 ballot after originally setting their sights on the 2022 election, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.
One initiative would legalize medical cannabis, while the other would decriminalize cannabis for personal use.
Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan conditionally certified the two initiatives in August for this year’s ballot, but Apollo Pazell, chief strategist for the national Libertarian Party, which is backing the campaign, told the news outlet that organizers have fallen too far behind their signature goal to get the measures before voters in November.
Each initiative needs more than 41,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Pazell told the Casper Star-Tribune that the approval process for the petition took longer than expected and organizers could not start gathering signatures until the fall.
While the campaign has roughly 30% of the required number of signatures, Pazell told the news outlet that “everything seems to be on pace” to get the measures on the 2024 ballot.
The campaign must submit the required number of signatures to the Secretary of State’s office by January 2023, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. The office must then verify each person and their address against the state’s most recent voter logs.
Pazell told the news outlet that roughly 80% of the signatures collected by the campaign’s paid carriers have been verified so far, and organizers are striving to collect 150% of the required signatures in each county to ensure they reach their goal.
Meanwhile, at the statehouse, Wyoming lawmakers considered a pair of bills in 2021—one that would have established a study on medical cannabis and one that would have legalized adult-use.
RELATED: Wyoming House Judiciary Committee Skips Medical Cannabis Bill, Goes Straight to Approving Adult-Use Bill Instead
Both pieces of legislation cleared the House Judiciary Committee before stalling without a hearing in the House.
