Petition to put retail marijuana on November ballot in Lamar fails – Lamar Ledger – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

A petition to get retail marijuana on the November Ballot in Lamar has failed to get enough verified signatures.

According to the Supporters of Legal Marijuana Regulation- Lamar, CO Facebook page, admin of the group Brent Bates said though the group’s petition collected enough signatures, not enough of them could be verified.

“We submitted 14 petition sections with a total of 513 signatures, and needed 364 to be verifiable as registered voters who reside within Lamar city limits,” Bates posted on Aug. 1.

Bates said only 330 of the 513 signatures could be verified, leaving the group 34 signatures short of the 364 signature mark. Bates said the signatures that were thrown out were due to “various and legitimate reasons.”

Bates, a city council member from Ward 1, has been outspoken in favor of recreational marijuana in Lamar, and an outspoken member of this Facebook page since 2021 when it was created.

Recreational marijuana in Lamar has been a hotly contested topic since November 2021 when citizens voted in favor of retail marijuana. It was later struck down by a judge who said the results were invalid because of problems with the original petition. Based on the number of signatures the petition initially received, it should have never appeared on the ballot to begin with.

Then in November 2022, voters struck down Ballot Question 300, leaving the door open for retail marijuana to appear on the ballot again, a sign that the majority of citizens in Lamar were…