SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- PRESS RELEASE -- A new Care2 petition, started by a former Mormon who relies on medical marijuana, is calling on Utah legislators to support the legalization of medical marijuana in the state despite meddling of the Mormon Church. The Care2 petition has gathered over 14,000 signatures.
View the Care2 petition here.
The Care2 petition was started by Kelsey Bourgeois after reports surfaced that the Mormon Church has been actively lobbying against Utah’s Proposition 2 that would allow people with certain medical conditions to access marijuana.
“I grew up in Utah as a Mormon,” writes Bourgeois on her Care2 petition. “I remember learning at church that marijuana was evil and a gateway drug. Now I'm an adult living in Illinois with a chronic illness, and using medical marijuana to treat it has changed my life drastically for the better.”
Bourgeois points out what she calls a “double standard,” saying Mormons in other states where medical marijuana is legal, like California and Colorado, won’t have to be put in the position “to withhold crucial medicine from their children in order to be loyal to their church”.
In March, polls showed 77 percent approval rate of Proposition 2, but those numbers have tumbled 10 percent since the Mormon Church and others formed a coalition to oppose the bill.
“Because I was raised with the propaganda around how harmful marijuana is, I know all too well how many Utahns may be tempted to just go along with the Church's opposition to this bill,” writes Bourgeois. “But my message to them is to consider the wellbeing of people around them. Proposition 2 is a very limited bill. Patients will still need doctor approval and have a ton of restrictions on how they can use cannabis. This isn't a free-for-all by any means.”
