Politics
Idaho Lawmakers Approve Ballot Language For Measure To Block Voters From Legalizing Marijuana
Idaho lawmakers have approved ballot language for a proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent voters from ever being able to decide to legalize marijuana via an initiative.
The Legislative Council, a bicameral group of lawmakers, voted on Thursday to sign off on a statement of meaning and purpose for the measure, as well as arguments for and against it.
If approved in November, the proposal would make it so only lawmakers could legalize cannabis or other controlled substances.
Voters could also decide on the same ballot on a separate voter initiative to legalize medical marijuana after organizers last month turned in what they believe are more than enough signatures to qualify the measure.
As approved by the panel last week, the statement of meaning and purpose for the measure blocking voters from legalizing marijuana reads:
“In Idaho, a law may be passed by either of two methods. The first and more common method is for the Legislature to pass a law. The second, less common method allows the people themselves to pass a law through ballot initiative. This proposed constitutional amendment would give the Legislature exclusive authority to legalize marijuana, narcotics, or other psychoactive substances in the State of Idaho.”
The argument in favor of the proposal says:
“Drugs destroy lives, tear apart families, and threaten the safety of our communities. Decisions about legalizing marijuana, narcotics, and other psychoactive substances are too important to be made lightly. The proposed amendment would ensure that any proposal to legalize these dangerous substances would go through the legislative process. Public hearings would be held on the proposal, where law enforcement and people whose lives have been damaged by drugs would be able to testify. Legislators would carefully consider each proposal and would be publicly accountable for their votes.”
The argument against the measure says:
“The Idaho Constitution says that all political power belongs to the people. But the proposed amendment would take power away from the people by getting rid of their ability to pass drug legalization laws on their own through ballot initiatives. The people are as capable of making good, careful decisions about drug policy as legislators are. The amendment is also unnecessary because if the people did ever pass a poorly considered law legalizing drugs, the Legislature would have the power to amend or repeal it.”
The proposed constitutional amendment, which would effectively make it illegal for voters to legalize marijuana, was approved by both chambers of the legislature earlier this year.
HJR 4 says that “effective immediately upon adoption by the voters of Idaho, only the legislature of the state of Idaho shall have power and authority to legalize the growing, producing, manufacturing, transporting, selling, delivering, dispensing, administering, prescribing, distributing, possessing, or using of marijuana, narcotics, or other psychoactive substances.”
If a majority of voters approve the measure on the ballot, it will be added to the state Constitution.
The statement and arguments as approved by the Legislative Council last week will now head to the secretary of state, who will include them in a pamphlet that is mailed to every household in the state.
At the same time, an Idaho medical marijuana campaign announced last month that it turned in more than 150,000 signatures for a proposed legalization initiative it wants to qualify for the state’s November ballot.
County clerks across the state have until June 30 to verify the signatures submitted by the Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho (NMAI) and report to the secretary of state’s office. At this stage, it’s unclear how many signatures the campaign has collected far are valid and whether activists have met a separate requirement for regional distribution of petitions.
To be certified for the ballot, the team needed to submit signatures from at least 6 percent of registered voters as of the state’s last general election, which currently amounts to 70,725. They also needed to meet that 6 percent threshold in at least 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.
While NMAI has pursued ballot access, Idaho lawmakers have pushed back. In addition the proposed constitutional amendment, both the Senate and House of Representatives passed a resolution this session urging voters to “reject” the medical marijuana petition.
The measure, sponsored by the Senate State Affairs Committee, claims that cannabis legalization in other states has led to a host of harms, including “increased cartel activity, development of black market marijuana production, human trafficking, and increased crime rates” as well as “increased rates of serious health issues,” environmental harms and “safety concerns on job sites.”
It argues that the marijuana initiative would not only increase costs to the state but that its list of approved medical conditions is “so broad that almost anyone could qualify.”
“The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act lacks safeguards to such an extent that it would effectively legalize widespread recreational use of marijuana,” the resolution claims. “The legalization of marijuana would have devastating impacts on Idaho children and their families… The Legislature urges the citizens of Idaho to reject any effort to bring the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act to the ballot.”
A statement of purpose filed with the legislation says it “addresses the devastating impact that legalizing marijuana has had on other states” and “identifies the significant problems” with the ballot initiative.
Contrary to the claims made about marijuana reform in the legislative resolution, advocates often point to data showing that legalizing and regulating cannabis diminishes the size of the illegal market and has not led to increases in youth use.
Meanwhile, NMAI recently released an analysis showing that Idaho could see more than $100 million worth of medical marijuana sold on an annual basis and up to $28 million in new yearly revenue for state coffers if voters approve the legalization initiative.
The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act, which NMAI unveiled last October, would provide patients with qualifying conditions access to marijuana from a limited number of dispensaries and provide a regulatory framework for the market.
Here are the main provisions of the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act:
- Health practitioners would be able to recommend medical cannabis to patients with conditions that include, but are not limited to, cancer, anxiety and acute pain.
- Medical marijuana patients or their designated caregiver could purchase up to 113 grams of smokeable cannabis, or 20 grams of THC extract for vaping, per month.
- The state would be start by issuing three vertically integrated cannabis business licenses, after which point it could license up to six total.
- Marijuana would be reclassified under state law as a Schedule II, rather than Schedule I, controlled substance.
- State and local law enforcement would be barred from assisting in federal drug enforcement activities related to the state-legal cannabis program.
- There would be anti-discrimination protections for those who use or sell marijuana in compliance from state law, preventing adverse actions by employers, landlords and educational institutions.
- It does not appear that there would be any equity-centered reforms, nor would the initiative provide for a home grow option.
“We believe Idahoans deserve access to legal, compassionate, natural care right here at home,” NMAI’s website says. “Our mission is to give patients a legal pathway to natural medicine that can ease suffering and restore dignity without the fear of addiction.”
“The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act is our first step forward. It creates a safe, tightly regulated medical program that allows qualified Idahoans to seek medical cannabis treatment with a valid diagnosis from a healthcare provider,” it says. “It supports Idaho agriculture, generates tax revenue to reinvest locally, and ensures that patients can find natural relief.”
The campaign in February also released the results of a statewide poll showing that 83 percent of likely voters back medical cannabis legalization, including 74 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of Democrats and 92 percent of independents.
Asked how they would vote if the current medical cannabis legalization does appear on the November ballot, 76 percent of respondents said “yes.” Of that cohort, 50 percent said they would “definitively” vote yes, and just 21 percent said they’d vote “no.”
After the medical cannabis initiative was unveiled last year, a separate campaign that launched in 2024, Kind Idaho, told supporters that it would be suspending its own signature gathering for a ballot initiative to legalize the personal possession and cultivation of marijuana by adults.
Kind Idaho previously introduced medical marijuana ballot measures intended to go before voters in both the 2022 and 2024 elections, but the efforts proved unsuccessful.
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Legislators separately held a hearing last year to discuss a bill to enact medical cannabis legalization legislatively, but it did not advance.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) last year signed legislation setting a $30o mandatory minimum fine for marijuana possession. A prior version of the proposal, which did not pass, would have set a $420 mandatory minimum fine for possessing cannabis.
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
