The Mississippi House of Representatives voted to place an alternative on the ballot to compete with the medical marijuana initiative which will be on the ballot this fall in Mississippi.
The House alternative employs language in its title almost identical to the referendum, which received 228,000 signatures to get on the fall ballot.
By doing so, it makes it nearly impossible for medical marijuana to pass because the House proposal will split the votes for the medical marijuana initiative, causing the real initiative to fall short of the required 40 percent of voters casting ballots.
State law requires any initiative to get 40 percent of the total votes cast. When there are two seemingly similar initiatives on the same subject, it effectively splits the vote, making either one fall short of the required 40 percent.
This legal technique, codified by the legislature, was designed as a means for the state legislature to effectively quash referendum initiatives it doesn't like.
The state legislature has used this technique in the past to kill initiatives.
Polls have shown 65 percent of Mississippians support medical marijuana, but opposition has been growing, as reflected by the House vote.
Mississippians for Compassionate Care has released an official response to the House’s decision, claiming the House is to denying "Mississippians a fair vote on medical marijuana."
Jamie Grantham, Mississippians for Compassionate Care Communications Director, said:
“Tuesday on the House floor, Speaker Philip Gunn (R-Clinton) led an effort to deny Mississippians a fair vote on the medical marijuana initiative. On a roll call vote, the legislative alternative (HCR 39) passed 72-49. It will now move to the Senate.
"If approved by the Senate, the legislative alternative will be listed alongside our initiative (Ballot Initiative 65) in a way that will prevent a fair up-or-down vote on medical marijuana by confusing voters. The Speaker is opposed to medical marijuana and is opposed to a fair vote on the initiative signed by more than 228,000 Mississippians. He used every bit of his power to muscle through the alternative and pressure House representatives to vote with him, even if they supported the people’s right to a fair vote in November. The two representatives who helped him do it were Jason White (R-West) and Trey Lamar (R-Senatobia).
"Led by Representatives Gunn, White, and Lamar, the House showed this morning that they couldn’t care less about the people who are suffering from debilitating medical conditions in our state and who could be helped with medical marijuana. The battle now shifts to the Senate. We hope that Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and the Senate will do the right thing and oppose this alternative amendment to give Mississippians a fair vote on medical marijuana this November.”
