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SALT LAKE CITY — Patient advocacy groups in Utah have dropped their argument in a legal challenge that lawmakers made broad changes to a voter-approved plan legalizing medical marijuana at the behest of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The groups' Friday court filings now focus on claims that lawmakers violated voters' constitutional rights and passed directives that conflict with federal law, which still considers marijuana an illegal drug.
The recrafted argument comes after the Utah Attorney General's Office contended in filings last week that lawmakers had the authority to change the law. The office asked a judge to toss the suit, arguing the church was exercising its right to free speech when it called on lawmakers to find a different solution to Proposition 2, and when the church announced it was working to identify legislation it believed to be appropriate.
"The church was simply expressing its views and desires on a matter of public interest, as any person or group has the right to do," the Attorney General's filing says.
A church representative declined comment Friday. When attorney Rocky Anderson, former Salt Lake City mayor, first published a letter threatening legal action regarding Proposition 2 last year, it said it stands behind the compromise.
Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education, or TRUCE, and the Epilepsy Association of Utah sued the state in 3rd District Court in December in an effort to block the replacement law, a compromise reached by legislators, plus backers of the ballot measure and opponents, including the church. The groups asked a judge to impose the voter-approved plan instead.
Ahead of the November election, Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, brokered the legislation in private talks. The Utah Patients Coalition, the campaign that promoted and helped author Proposition 2; Libertas Institute, the campaign's largest in-state donor; the Utah Medical Association, a fierce critic of the initiative; and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, another critic of the measure, all agreed to support the contents of a sweeping medical marijuana compromise bill following dozens of hours of negotiations.
Related story:
Rocky Anderson threatens lawsuit over Prop. 2 compromise
Anderson issued a letter this week to groups connected to a Prop. 2 compromise bill, threatening legal action for "vastly altering the law mandated by the people."The groups that hashed out the compromise said the measure created legitimate access to medical marijuana while also involving medical providers more with patients and guarding against recreational use. The bill, sponsored by Hughes, passed overwhelmingly at the Utah Legislature during a December special session. Herbert signed the bill later that day.
The lawsuit fighting the compromise maintains that it "unconstitutionally undermines or entirely defeats core purposes of Proposition 2" and "severely reduces or eliminates" some patients' medical marijuana access.
The groups previously contended the bill had violated Article I Section 4 of the Utah Constitution, which states "there shall be no union of church and state, nor shall any church dominate the state or interfere with its functions." But the new legal complaint filed Friday leaves out those arguments.
The suit names Gov. Gary Herbert and Dr. Joseph Miner, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, as defendants.
