The Wyoming chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) proposed an initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Wyoming last week.
If the initiative is granted provisional certification by the secretary of state’s office, NORML can start collecting signatures.
Chris Christian, the 66-year-old director of NORML Wyoming, said they needed to receive 25,673 signatures (an amount equivalent to 15 percent of votes cast in the 2014 election) for the initiative to be on the 2016 ballot.
“We won’t stop just because we get enough signatures,” Christian said. “It’s about the lawmakers listening to the people.”
Christian said she is confident the medical marijuana advocates will surpass their goal, in part because recreational marijuana legalization was dropped from the initiative.
According to a 2014 University of Wyoming survey, 72 percent of Wyomingites support legalizing medical marijuana, but only 35 percent supported recreational.
“We dropped recreational so people who are suffering and in pain can get the medicine they need as soon as possible,” she said. “I wanted to push for the recreational but the polling doesn’t support that right now.”
Though Ballotpedia, a website that tracks initiatives, elections, legislatures and more nationwide, lists the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) as opposing the initiative, WASPC Executive Director Byron Oedekoven said the association is developing a position paper on the issue and impacts of legalized medical marijuana. The law enforcement association will release its position in the coming weeks.
Sheryl Hendricks of Cheyenne has been a registered nurse in Wyoming for 30 years. She said she supports the initiative because of her personal and professional experiences.
“It’s a human rights issue,” Hendricks said. “It’s my right to do with what I want with my own body without the government stepping in.”
For all of her life, Hendricks said she was fooled by the propaganda surrounding marijuana. She said she does not enjoy drinking or being high, but has smoked since she was a teenager. The habit, which has since led to health complications, is one reason she said she no longer believes the argument that legalized marijuana will harm children holds any weight.
“I’m more concerned about kids getting ahold of the prescription drugs in their mom’s medicine cabinet or the cigarettes on the table,” Hendricks said. “I started smoking as a teen because they were available in my house.”
Since she started investigating marijuana two years ago—and travelling to Colorado to try it out for herself—she said her opinion on the substance has completely reversed. She lost 60 pounds and kept it off, which has made her diabetes more manageable and allowed her to no longer rely on her prescription drugs.
“This is a miracle drug,” she said. “What we need to push is this is as a medical thing. If you’re not out there advocating, somebody might not be getting the medication they need. This is medicine people have a right to.”
Hendricks said, in her profession, she treats countless individuals suffering from the consequences of alcohol consumption or suffering renal failure as a result of legal prescription pills. But she has never had to care for someone suffering as a result of marijuana consumption.
“I think it’s a criminal act to keep it from people,” she said. “They’re stepping on all kinds of rights by keeping it prohibited.”
Matthew Shaffer, a political science major at the University of Wyoming, said he appreciates the easy-to-read nature of the 13-page initiative.
“It’s a pretty simple law to get your head around,” Shaffer said. “It’s about making rational decisions based on science and evidence rather than based on fear and misunderstanding.”
