SALT LAKE CITY — The group Drug Safe Utah is suing Lt. Governor Spencer Cox over the Medical Marijuana Initiative. The initiative is slated to be on Utah’s ballot this November.
But, Drug Safe Utah’s president, Walter Plumb, says it would mandate landlords of any religious persuasion to allow tenants to reside in their properties if they use mind-altering substances; even if it is repulsive to the landlords’ religious beliefs. So, if passed, the initiative would violate religious freedoms.
This is the second lawsuit the anti-cannabis group has brought against Cox. He is the target because the Lt. Governor is in charge of elections in the state of Utah. The first lawsuit, filed in Federal Court, was quickly dropped after realizing rules make it difficult as to who can make a legal claim at the Federal level.
The Utah Patients Coalition says suing on the basis of religious freedom “unnecessarily divides our pluralistic state based on religious affiliation and creed.”
The marijuana plant is comprised of dozens of chemicals, each of them having different effects on your body. The chemical which is used most for medical purposes is called Cannabidiol, or CBD, and does not produce any psychoactive effects.
The other main chemical, Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the psychoactive compound in marijuana which produces the high. It is not always used in medical cannabis applications.
Plumb of Drug Safe Utah says property owners would not be able to refuse a lease to anyone holding a medical cannabis card and they could lose licensing-related benefits under federal law if the initiative passes.
DJ Schanz from Utah Patients Coalition tells the Deseret News, “Hundreds of thousands of LDS members support reasonable cannabis reforms and the ballot initiative.”
