With six months to go, a pair of petitions aimed at easing marijuana regulations in Wyoming have collected around 40% of the signatures they need to get on the 2024 ballot.
Organizers have until January to collect more than 41,000 signatures from Wyoming voters on each petition.
One is an attempt at decriminalizing marijuana — basically, removing criminal charges and penalties for possessing and using it. The other, if passed, would make the drug legal for medical use.
When the petitions’ 18-month collection window closes, the signatures go to the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office to be verified against voter logs. That makes sure everyone who signed actually lives in Wyoming, and is registered to vote.
While signatures are still being collected by volunteers around the state, their momentum has begun to slow. The 40% of signatures collected as of mid-July is up only slightly from the estimated 30% collected by February. But still, with several counties already completed, organizers are hopeful they’ll meet their goal.
“I definitely run into people who are like, ‘Oh, here you are again, I already signed,’” said Bennett Sondeno, executive director of marijuana advocacy group Wyoming NORML.
“And then there’s, ‘I had no idea this was happening!’ It’s hard to reach everybody.”
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