The organizers of a new ballot initiative in North Dakota to legalize recreational cannabis submitted their petition signatures on July 5, 2024. This step sets the stage for another potential statewide vote on a matter that voters and state lawmakers have previously turned down.
Steve Bakken, chair of the sponsoring committee for the New Economic Frontier measure, announced that the group had submitted more than 22,000 signatures. For the initiative to make it onto the November ballot, 15,582 of those signatures need to be valid. The Secretary of State’s office, led by Michael Howe, has until Aug. 12, 2024, to verify the signatures.
The move, according to Bakken, a former mayor of Bismarck and commissioner for Burleigh County, is intended to avert possible mismanagement by outside interests.
The proposed 20-page measure would allow adults aged 21 years of age and older to use recreational cannabis in their homes or on private property. It includes detailed regulations on processing and production, prohibited uses (such as in public vehicles or spaces), and permits for home cultivation.
The measure sets limits on the amount of cannabis that can be purchased and possessed: up to an ounce of flowers or dried leaves, 4 grams of concentrated cannabis oil, 1,500 mg of THC overall in items made from cannabis, and 300mg of edibles. It also allows for various cannabis products, including capsules, solutions, transdermal patches, topicals and concentrates.
In North Dakota, using marijuana under the age of 21 is a minor misdemeanor. While recreational use by adults isn’t a crime, possession is, with penalties ranging from infractions to misdemeanors based on the amount. Delivering cannabis is a felony, with increased penalties for factors such as proximity to schools.
Last year, according to data from the state’s courts, 4,451 people were charged with marijuana use or possession across the state.
Voters in the state rejected similar legalization measures in 2018 and 2022. In 2021, the state’s GOP-led House passed measures to legalize recreational cannabis, but these measures were defeated in the Republican-majority Senate. Opponents cited concerns over the negative societal and physiological effects of cannabis.
Voters did approve medical cannabis in 2016, and the state’s program now has nearly 10,000 active patients. A new procedure to facilitate pardons for minor marijuana offenses was adopted in 2019, with Governor Doug Burgum granting 100 pardons since then.
Currently, 24 states have legalized recreational cannabis, with Ohio being the most recent, having done so by initiative in last November. In addition legalization initiatives will be on the ballot in South Dakota and Florida this November. Additionally, in May, the federal government began steps to reclassify cannabis as a less harmful substance.
If North Dakotans finally pass this measure, market opportunities could open up for various companies such a Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX: CRON) that may be looking to expand their footprint around the country.
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