Three months ago, I identified Utah’s medical marijuana ballot initiative as one to watch — not just because of the issue itself but as a test case in Mormon politics. It would be a test, I said, whether The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can still be a political force when it takes a decisive stand on a measure.
History was not on the side of Proposition 2’s proponents, who favored legalizing medical marijuana. On issues like the Equal Rights Amendment and more recently on same-sex marriage, Latter-day Saints have largely fallen in line when the church made its concerns plain.