Utah group files 2018 medical marijuana ballot initiative

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of activists and Utah residents with chronic conditions has launched a ballot initiative to ask voters next year to pass a broad medical marijuana law.

The application was filed Monday by the Utah Patients Coalition. The group’s organizers say they’re done waiting for state lawmakers to pass a law after legislators rejected similar proposals three years in a row.

The coalition wants Utah to join 29 other states that have passed broad medical marijuana laws.

The proposed initiative would set up state-regulated growing and dispensing of marijuana for use by residents with about a dozen types of conditions, including cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The group hopes to gather about 115,000 voter signatures starting later this summer in order to get the proposal before voters in November 2018.