Wyoming: Medical Marijuana Group Forms PAC To Collect Donations

Jacob Redmond

Well-Known Member
Members of a group pursuing a medical marijuana ballot initiative in Wyoming said Wednesday they have new leadership and have formed a political action committee to collect donations.

The news comes days after the group's director resigned and said the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Wyoming was in jeopardy.

Cheyenne resident Lee Roith will take over as interim executive director of the Wyoming chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Roith had been the group's deputy director. The group will work with national NORML representatives to elect new officers, said Amber Sparks, a Casper resident and NORML board member who is handling public relations for the group.

Jackson resident Chris Christian announced Sunday she was stepping down as the group's executive director. She said other NORML members and activists in the pro-cannabis community were making it impossible for her to continue her work. Roith and others said Christian had alienated many people.

Wyoming NORML hired an attorney to draft the Peggy A. Kelley Wyoming Cannabis Act of 2016, which would legalize medical marijuana and industrial hemp. The proposal has spurred the law enforcement community to begin a campaign to educate the public on what its members believe are dangers of the drug.

NORML's members hope the measure will be on the November ballot. For that to happen, they must collect more than 25,000 signatures of registered Wyoming voters by Feb. 8.

Christian said on Monday only about 7,000 signatures had been collected and she thought the petition effort had failed.

However, Sparks and Casper resident Madalene Ordes, who is now the group's interim treasurer, said cannabis advocates are continuing to gather signatures throughout the state.

"We're raising money, collecting signatures," Sparks said.

In addition to Roith, Sparks and Ordes, Hartville resident Pam Revell Wright is deputy director and Rawlins resident Sabrina Geisler is secretary.

The group formed a PAC: 420 Wyoming -- Wyoming Women for the Legalization of Cannabis and Hemp. Marie Peterson, of Rawlins, is the PAC chairwoman, according to Wyoming Secretary of State records. Ordes is treasurer.

The PAC formed Nov. 17, records show.

Sparks said the formation of the PAC led to conflict in NORML.

The Wyoming NORML Political Action Committee had formed May 14, but there has been disagreement in recent months about how it was run, Sparks said.

"Our (new) political action committee is to support the Peggy A. Kelley Cannabis Act of 2016," she said. "We have a set of books. All the funds are going to advertising."

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