cannabisnews.com: Settlement Lets MMJ Group Pass Petition at Polls Settlement Lets MMJ Group Pass Petition at Polls Posted by FoM on September 02, 2000 at 20:12:16 PT By Dan Scanlan, Times-Union Staff Writer Source: Florida Times-Union Marijuana rights activists have won a second federal court case against Jacksonville that allows them to return to the polls Tuesday to gather signatures for a possible 2002 ballot question.City Hall officials settled with Floridians for Medical Rights recently after its members said police threatened to arrest them outside a Mandarin church in 1999. The members were seeking signatures in support of a statewide ballot question on whether to allow the legal use of marijuana for medical reasons. The group's first victory against Jacksonville came in federal court after there were similar problems at a Southside polling place in 1998. The settlement gives the group $1,500 in court costs and tells police and poll workers that the petitioners can't be harassed as long as they collect signatures at least 50 feet from polling precincts.Group organizer Scott Bledsoe said members plan to be at about a dozen Mandarin and Baymeadows Road polling sites for Tuesday's primary election."I am pleased with . . . what we have accomplished. I hope we can continue our work for this free speech issue and that other groups can take advantage of this," Bledsoe said. "I do not expect any problems this time."There are 16 new polling locations in Mandarin and Southside because of the controversy. Some property owners who previously leased space for polling, many of them churches, told Supervisor of Elections John Stafford they didn't want marijuana rights activists on their property again this election year."It could have been a big problem," Stafford said, adding that affected voters have been notified of changes. "It really had an impact on our Baptist churches. A lot of those people just didn't want to deal with that."Floridians for Medical Rights has collected signatures since 1997, and Bledsoe said the group has about 10 percent of the 435,000 signatures they need to get the medical marijuana use question on the ballot.As a result of the latest settlement, Stafford issued a memo to poll workers, reminding them that petitioning is "a constitutional right." Police officers received a similar notice at roll calls last week, said Steve Rohan, City Hall's assistant general counsel.Published: Saturday, September 2, 2000 Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)Copyright: The Florida Times-Union 2000Contact: tuletter tu.infi.netWebsite: http://www.times-union.com/Forum: http://cafe.jacksonville.com/cafesociety.htmlRelated Articles & Web Site:Floridian's For Medical Rightshttp://www.medicalrights.org/Cannabis Group Seeks Injunction http://cannabisnews.com/news/5/thread5843.shtmlFunds Awarded To Research Marijuana Patch http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4832.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by JT420 on September 03, 2000 at 05:39:46 PT Ignorance is bliss... >>"It really had an impact on our Baptist churches. A lot of those people just didn't want to deal with that."Ya, its tough to deal with the fact that the government has been lying to us for all these years. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: