WMC5: “For months, the mayor of Madison, Mississippi has expressed concerns over the constitutionality of Initiative 65, a ballot initiated constitutional amendment that would allow doctors in the state to prescribe medical marijuana for patients.
Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler says the language in the current constitutional language that allows petitions to be put on the ballot creates a mathematical problem regarding signature gathering.
Wednesday, the issue went before the state Supreme Court.
“The case before the court is not about the wisdom of legalizing medical marijuana,” said Kaytie Pickett, legal representative for Hawkins-Butler. “What this case is about is the secretary of state’s unconstitutional determination of the sufficiency of the petition supporting Initiative 65.”
The language in the constitution requires that of the signatures gathered, no more than 20% of signatures can come from any one of the five congressional districts.
The problem with this, according to Hawkins-Butler and her team, is that Mississippi no longer has five congressional districts; the state has four.
With that, the claim is it’s impossible to acquire the number of signatures required to have the initiative placed on the ballot.”