SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The medical cannabis advocates suing the state after Monday's passage of a Proposition 2 replacement bill are seeking to overturn that law, yes — but they also want to contest what they see as government overreach in muting the voice of the people in an election.
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in 3rd District Court by former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, the heads of the Epilepsy Association of Utah (EAU) and Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education (TRUCE) accuse the Legislature of abridging the rights of voters in an effort to appease The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And they argue that the Utah Medical Cannabis Act violates the state constitution's provision for ballot initiatives by sweeping aside the plan approved by a majority of voters.
"For three years, we advocated on the Hill," said Christine Stenquist, president of TRUCE. "For two years, we've been in a campaign for the proposition. And when I saw it undermined so quickly on the first business day, I started to wonder: Is the initiative process in Utah just a suggestion box? Are our votes really meaning anything in this political process? How long do we just have to let politics happen to us?"
The state constitution vests legislative power equally in the Legislature and "the people of the State of Utah." Some of the architects of the Proposition 2 replacement law, however, say the lawsuit stands on shaky legal ground.
Previously: Mormon Church, Politicians, and Advocates Back Medical Cannabis Compromise in Utah
(Score: 5, Interesting) by HiThere on Saturday December 08 2018, @04:11AM
I'm sorry you were surprised. You must not have paid attention in history classes. Authoritarianism is orthogonal to the left-right spectrum. Both sides contains anarchists and both sides contain those that worship power. IIRC the first socialized medicine policy in the modern world was initiated by Count Bismark. A noted authoritarian. (If not the first, he certainly pushed one.) In most policies, however, he was distinctly right-wing. (What do you expect of an aristocrat?)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.