Patient advocates who are suing over the state’s decision to replace a voter-approved medical marijuana initiative have ditched one of their central legal arguments — that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
The original lawsuit filed in December accused the Legislature of abridging the rights of voters to appease the church, which the plaintiffs say has an unconstitutional grip on Utah’s government.
But attorney Rocky Anderson, who’s representing Together for Responsible Use and Education and the Epilepsy Association of Utah in the case, said his clients are abandoning that claim because proving it would’ve required a laborious and expensive fact-finding process.