Volunteers Continue To Collect Signatures For Recreational Marijuana

The pro-recreational marijuana group “Green the Vote” said it has collected more than 132,000 signatures to put recreational marijuana on the November ballot. 

That's more than the 124,000 needed, but the group continues to collect more.

Tammy Searcy spent about 14 hours a day on the corner of Meridian Avenue and Northwest Expressway to collect signatures for recreational marijuana even though she said she's never even tried the stuff.

"(I) have never in my life touched marijuana. Never," she said. "She (her 15-year-old daughter), at one point, was having over 60 seizures per day every single day. Heart stopped. Quit breathing. Whole nine yards. Been on all kinds of medications. Had numerous surgeries. Nothing worked."

Until she tried cannabis oil, Searcy said.

"We went from 60 a day to 15 a week, and they were minor. She went from completely wheelchair bound to running (and) laughing," she said.

Searcy hopes medical marijuana will reduce the number even more, but she doesn't trust state to implement medical marijuana the way voters demanded.  So, she wants to collect thousands of additional signatures to legalize recreational marijuana. 

Secretary of State James Williamson says that’s a good idea because many of the signatures may not qualify.

But, he says, there may not be enough time between the filing deadline of August 8 and August 27 when the signatures have to be checked. 

"From Aug. 8 to Aug. 27, there's 19 days and the statute basically requires 10 business days for a notices to be published which could end up being 14 calendar days. So then you've got five days for the signatures to be counted," Williamson said.

Searcy said she'll keep gathering signatures for recreational marijuana and she said she has to. 

"I know that it helps. I've seen it with my own two eyes," she said.

If Green the Vote runs out of time before November, the ballot signatures will be held until the next governor puts the measure on the ballot.