That Mississippi’s medical cannabis program appears to have been sunk just prior to it starting hasn’t sat well with the state’s voters.
As we reported earlier this week, a voter-supported initiative to amend the state’s constitution to allow qualified patients with debilitating medical conditions to use medical marijuana has been cancelled due to a technicality with more wide-ranging ramifications.
Chism Strategies has carried out a poll since, gauging the mood of 905 Mississippi voters on the decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court to invalidate Initiative 65.
Here’s some of what it found.
- Just 22% agreed with the Supreme Court decision – 60.9% disagreed and 16.8% were unsure.
- 60% were in favour of a special legislative session to address the issue.
- 70% wanted the legislature to pass a medical marijuana law with wording exactly matching the amendment approved by voters last November.
- A majority of voters are more likely to oppose state legislators at the ballot box who oppose medical marijuana.
- 45% would support impeachment of a State Supreme Court Judge who voted to overturn the vote that approved medical marijuana.
- 27.1% would oppose impeachment and 27.9% were unsure
The calls for impeachment may be a little rough – the Justices appeared to make their decision grudgingly and their personal views had to be put inside – this was purely a matter of law, as flawed as it was.
69.3% of those polled had voted in support of the citizen-sponsored constitutional amendment last November. The ballot initiative itself saw 74% of voters supporting it.
53.4% of those surveyed supported Republican Tate Reeve in the 2019 statewide election – and Governor Reeve didn’t support the ballot initiative.
Governor Reeve has the authority to call a special session of the legislature so lawmakers can thrash out legislation that would address the issue, as the Mississippi Supreme Court Justices state there is nothing further that can be done at their end of things.
Given the Governor’s previous views on the initiative, that may be unlikely – but ignoring the will of the people would be a dicey move and a number of politicians in the state have already called for such a session.
The full survey report can be viewed here.
