A voter-approved ballot initiative lessening marijuana penalties in Wichita was struck down Friday by the Kansas Supreme Court on a technicality.
The court did not address the state’s argument that the proposal conflicted with state marijuana possession laws. Instead, it decided that petitioners did not follow state law in filing the proposed ordinance with the city clerk.
“If the only way they can beat us is on a technicality, it really says something about their argument,” said Esau Freeman, one of the organizers for Marijuana Reform Initiative-ICT, which organized the ballot petition.
The issue, which pitted the city against the state, would have made possession of one ounce of marijuana a criminal infraction with a $50 fine for first-time offenders over 21.
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