cannabisnews.com: MMJ Initiative On Ballot After Signature Recount





MMJ Initiative On Ballot After Signature Recount
Posted by FoM on September 22, 1999 at 12:07:26 PT
Source: Tribe.com
A ballot initiative aimed at legalizing marijuana for medical purposes has been given a second life.A recount shows there were enough petition signatures to put Amendment 19 on the state's 1998 general election ballot, and Coloradans will vote on the measure next year, Secretary of State Donetta Davidson said Tuesday.
Former Secretary of State Vikki Buckley, who died in July, ruled in August 1998 that backers of the medical marijuana proposal fell 2,338 signatures short of the 54,242 needed to put it to a vote.Buckley's decision sparked a legal battle that ended just days before the Nov. 3 election when the Colorado Supreme Court refused to consider a motion challenging the ruling. Opponents had called Buckley's decision "recklessly wrong."Ballots had been printed to include Amendment 19 after a Denver District Court ruled Buckley's office had erred in its signature count, but when the Colorado Supreme Court ordered a line-by-line count, she again said there were not enough signatures.The proposed amendment remained on the printed ballot, but votes cast for or against it were not counted. Several days after the election, backers sued in Denver District Court in an attempt to force the secretary of state to put the initiative on the 2000 ballot.The recount this year shows there were 54,495 valid signatures, Davidson said. That is 253 more than the number needed to put the proposed amendment to a vote. It will be on the general election ballot in November 2000, she said."I'm delighted," said proponent Martin Chilcutt, who began the effort to legalize marijuana for medical use in Colorado three years ago. "It's been a treacherous, long road to get this far."Chilcutt said the court issued an order Friday reflecting the results of the recount.KCNC-TV reported Tuesday that some 66 petitions were found in a box in Buckley's office after her death. The discovery raised questions about whether the signatures on those petitions were properly counted, the television station said.Backers of the initiative want Coloradans with pain and nausea caused by debilitating diseases and their treatment to be allowed to use marijuana with a doctor's permission."I'm right on the line with the patients, so I know that it helps them," said Chilcutt, who said he has worked with people suffering from AIDS and cancer.Wednesday 22 Sep 1999 Copyright © trib.com 1999Coloradans For Medical Rightshttp://www.medicalmarijuana.com/  Voters Will Decide on Marijuana - 9/22/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2974.shtml
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