Utah’s TRUCE gives up on medical marijuana proposal for 2016

By Mark Rosa

Utah’s medical marijuana proponents will have to wait until next year to see a more comprehensive piece of legislation as the medical cannabis advocacy group Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education, or TRUCE, has officially ended the push to get their proposal to legalize medical cannabis on the ballot this November.

Candy Wagner, secretary and spokeswoman for TRUCE, said the group would be cutting it too close in getting the signatures necessary to get the initiative on the floor by November.

Wagner said if the group wasn’t able to get their petition signed in time they wouldn’t be able to release another proposal until 2018. By waiting until next year, Wagner believes, they can come back stronger with support from lawmakers and a sponsor.

Wagner said she is hopeful that next year’s proposal will have broader acceptance because medical cannabis legislation has been picking up steam in Utah in attempts to help with the state’s prescription opiate addiction epidemic.

Although TRUCE members believe the legalization of medical cannabis would help thousands of people here in Utah, local law enforcement sees the prospect of legalizing cannabis as a problem.

Logan City Police Capt. Curtis Hooley said not only is medical cannabis legalization a violation of federal drug laws but will bring a wave of crime and violence to the state that lawmakers aren’t foreseeing.

“I think the unwanted and unexpected consequences will outweigh the number of people who actually benefit from marijuana,” said Hooley. “Legal or not, an increase in production of marijuana in the state will bring potentially dangerous situations to residents.”

“You see it in Colorado all the time,” said Hooley. “Marijuana is a cash crop that’s mostly unregulated and its worth more on the black market. That makes legal marijuana growers and businesses a target for criminals.”

Hooley said he’s glad Utah will not be voting this year to legalize cannabis because that gives lawmakers and law enforcement more time to watch and learn from Colorado, Washington and Oregon in order to prepare themselves for the negative consequences that might be associated with medical cannabis legalization.