BISMARCK, ND — Organizers of a ballot initiative to legalize A petition to legalize recreational marijuana was filed in North Dakota on Monday, likely setting off a new statewide vote on the issue that was previously defeated by voters and state lawmakers.
The New economic frontier The measure group has submitted more than 22,000 signatures, said sponsorship committee chairman Steve Bakken. The initiative needs 15,582 valid signatures to get on the ballot in the Nov. 5 general election. Secretary of State Michael Howe’s office has until Aug. 12 to review the petition signatures.
Bakken, a Burleigh County commissioner and former Bismarck mayor, said the measure is an attempt to exclude out-of-state people who may be unmanageable.
“A lot of what we don’t want to see is what’s happening in some other states, and we think this is a measure that fits the conservative nature of North Dakota,” Bakken told reporters in an office where Howe’s staff was unpacking petitions. Law enforcement resources should also be focused more on opioids and fentanyl, not low-level marijuana offenses, he said.
The 20-page legal measure would legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and older to use at home and, where permitted, on other people’s private property. The measure also outlines numerous production and processing regulations, prohibits use — such as in public or in vehicles — and would allow home cultivation of plants.
The measure would establish maximum purchase and possession amounts of 1 ounce of dried leaves or flowers, 4 grams of a cannabinoid concentrate, 1,500 mg of total THC in the form of a cannabis product, and 300 mg of an edible product. It would allow cannabis solutions, capsules, transdermal patches, concentrates, topicals and edibles.
Marijuana use by anyone under 21 is a minor offense in North Dakota. Recreational use by anyone older is not a crime — but possession is, with penalties ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on the amount of marijuana. Delivery of any amount of marijuana is a misdemeanor, which can be increased depending on certain factors, such as if the offense occurred within 300 feet (91 meters) of a school.
Last year, 4,451 people in the state were charged with marijuana use or possession, according to North Dakota court records requested by The Associated Press.
North Dakota voters have previously rejected legalization measures 2018 And 2022.
In 2021, the Republican-led House of Representatives will accepted accounts to legalize and tax recreational marijuana, which is what the GOP majority wants Senate defeated. Opponents decried what they called the harmful physiological and social effects of marijuana.
Voters approved it medical marijuana use in 2016. The state program has almost 10,000 active patient cards.
In 2019, the state’s Pardon Advisory Board a new process approved to ease pardons for minor marijuana offenses. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum promised According to his office, 100 such pardons will be granted between 2019 and 2023.
Twenty-four states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults, with Ohio recently doing so by initiative in November 2023. Measures will be on the ballot in Florida And south dakota in november.
In May, the federal government has started a process to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.