SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Opponents of Utah’s medical marijuana ballot initiative are dropping their lawsuit seeking to prevent the legalization question from being put to voters in November 2018.
The action by Drug Safe Utah on Monday, July 2, 2018, clears the path to placing the initiative on the ballot. Coalition attorney Blake Ostler declined to say why opponents had changed course but said they could later refile the lawsuit.
DJ Schanz, director of the Utah Patients Coalition, the group pushing for the ballot initiative, called the lawsuit frivolous and said proponents were looking forward to Election Day.
The lawsuit was filed shortly before the state certified in May 2018 that campaigners met the requirements to place the initiative on the ballot.
The prospect of medical marijuana in Utah has faced tough opposition from opponents including Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
