SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The top prosecutor in Utah’s largest city is speaking out in support of an effort to legalize medical cannabis.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill says using medical cannabis should be a decision between a patient and a doctor, rather than a criminal matter. He spoke at a news conference Tuesday, May 8, 2018, as supporters of a medical-marijuana ballot initiative fend off opponents’ increasing efforts to keep them off the ballot.
The Utah Patients Coalition has submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot by a comfortable margin, but opponents of the measure are now going back to those voters and asking them to remove their signatures.
Medical cannabis supporters say opponents like the Utah Medical Association are using deceptive tactics to flip voters. The physicians’ group denies misleading anyone, and says people should know about their concerns.
Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have also come out against legalizing medical cannabis in the predominantly Mormon state. About 55 percent of Utahns identified as Mormon, according to the 2014 Religious Landscape Study by the Pew Research Center.
