Wyoming has been adamant about collecting signatures for ballot initiatives

Wyoming advocates are more motivated than ever to get a medical cannabis bill on the 2024 ballot, particularly because of misunderstandings about the number of signatures required by the State Department.

Advocates reported that Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s office provided inaccurate information about how many signatures were actually needed for their initiatives to qualify for the 2024 ballot. According to the Casper Star Tribune, based on information received from the office, advocates believed they had not collected enough signatures to put the initiatives on the ballot. They didn’t submit the signatures they already had based on that recommendation, but they actually had enough signatures to qualify.

The joint efforts of Compassionate Options Wyoming, Wyoming NORML and the Wyoming Libertarian Party all considered pursuing “political and legal options” due to the vague guidance.

Initially, two initiatives were to be submitted for qualification, including one that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis and another that legalized medical cannabis. Proponents initially announced that they were unable to collect enough signatures in early March of this year.

In late September, the office admitted its mistake when it recommended that supporters needed 41,776 signatures when they only needed 29,730 signatures. “…We are a completely new election team and have been conducting a comprehensive review of the initiative process over the past few months, primarily as a result of an initiative currently filed with our office,” the office said in an email, according to Pinedale Roundup.

Bennett Sondeno, executive director of Wyoming NORML, quickly responded to the statement and questioned the office’s process. “The people of Wyoming have the constitutional right to petition the government. The cannabis petitions should have been treated the same as the party affiliation initiative,” Sondeno said. “Secretary Gray and his ‘new’ team should have shown the same reverence and professionalism to the cannabis petition. Why didn’t they conduct a “comprehensive review of the initiative process” when there was already an initiative on the table? Their behavior deprived Wyoming residents of their rights,” he said.

Historically, cannabis law efforts in Wyoming have received little support. Wyoming NORML tried to put a medical cannabis initiative on the ballot in 2016, but advocates only managed to collect 13,000 signatures, according to NORML Executive Director Bennett Sondeno. “It was pretty grim,” he explained. Another attempt was made to collect signatures for the 2022 ballot in January 2022, but we did not manage to collect enough signatures then either.

The silver lining to the situation is that proponents once collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, and they can do it again. “Anyway, this fight isn’t over yet. Patients, veterans and Wyoming families managed to collect the signatures. This action will be the law no matter how hard they try to deny our rights,” said attorney Marshall Burt.

In order for the two cannabis initiatives to still be on the ballot for 2024, they would have to collect signatures again before the start of the legislative period. Sondeno called this “unrealistic,” saying there was not enough time and it would be harder to collect signatures once winter began. Additionally, he estimated it would cost advocacy groups $350,000 to collect enough signatures.

Both Sondeno and Oquirrh Mountain Strategies campaign consultant Apollo Pazell hope they can extend the deadline. “Basically the whole process was really complicated and confusing,” Pazell said. “I think this will be the first time I’ve said this, but I think it’s something lawmakers should focus on.”

In Wyoming, ballot initiatives require a 15% signature count in two-thirds of the state’s counties, which is the highest requirement in the country, according to the Casper Star Tribune. Once proponents receive a petition form from the state, they have 18 months to collect enough signatures, which must be submitted before the start of the legislative session that year. In this case, before the start of the legislative period in February 2024.

Cannabis bills have historically not made much progress in the Wyoming Legislature. House Bill 0106 was introduced in February 2022 with the intent to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis, but no further action has been taken to discuss or consider it.

Wyoming is among a small group of states where medical cannabis is not currently legal, including Idaho, Kansas and South Carolina. Additionally, states such as Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Texas have limited medical cannabis approvals but restrict use to CBD only.

However, there are larger advocacy efforts in some of these states, including Kentucky, whose governor has pushed forward advances in medical cannabis accessibility. In March, Gov. Andy Beshear signed a medical cannabis law, becoming the 38th state to legalize it, but it won’t take effect until January 2025.