Medical cannabis initiative fails to qualify for Idaho’s general election ballot

A proposed ballot initiative seeking to legalize medical cannabis in Idaho failed to meet the legal signature-gathering requirements set out in state law and will not appear on Idaho’s general election ballot in November, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office announced Tuesday.

A group called the Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho had hoped to legalize medical cannabis as a treatment option for Idahoans with chronic pain or a debilitating medical condition, such as cancer, AIDS, post-traumatic stress, epilepsy or Crohn’s disease.

To qualify for the ballot, organizers need to obtain valid signatures from 6% of Idaho’s registered voters statewide, and from 6% of registered voters in at least 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts. 

Initiative to end Idaho’s strict abortion ban qualifies for November’s general election ballot

The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office said the ballot initiative failed to meet the total signatures and required legislative districts. 

There were potential issues that could have affected the medical cannabis initiative. Despite Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane’s recommendation to submit signatures for verification earlier, organizers waited until the deadline on the final day to turn in the signatures, the Sun previously reported. 

A contractor working for the medical cannabis initiative arrived with nearly 900 signatures minutes after the local elections office in Minidoka County closed on the day signatures were due, missing the state’s deadline, the Sun previously reported. 

All forms of marijuana are illegal in Idaho. Other than Wyoming, each of Idaho’s bordering states offer either medical cannabis like Utah, or recreational marijuana like Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. 

Marijuana policy has faced difficult path forward in Idaho over the years

For more than 10 years, different groups have tried unsuccessfully to qualify a medical cannabis ballot initiative, but all failed to meet the signature requirements, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. Medical marijuana advocates also failed to gain any traction with the Idaho Legislature – including the Idaho Legislature’s opposition to this year’s medical cannabis initiative. 

In Idaho, a ballot initiative is a form of direct democracy where the voters – not the Idaho Legislature – decide whether to pass a proposed law. 

This year’s failed ballot initiative may have been the last opportunity for Idaho voters to legalize medical cannabis. A separate ballot issue approved by the Idaho Legislature called House Joint Resolution 4 would amend the Idaho Constitution to allow only the Idaho Legislature – and not the voters – to have the authority to legalize medical cannabis, recreational marijuana or any other drug. It will take a simple majority of votes to approve the Idaho Legislature’s constitutional amendment that would prevent voters from legalizing medical cannabis. 

Republican legislators and GOP officials said the ballot initiative would have been so broad as to effectively legalize marijuana for everyone.  

A separate ballot initiative – one seeking to end Idaho’s abortion ban – did meet the signature requirements and will appear on the ballot in the Nov. 3 general election ballot, the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office announced. 

Once it qualifies for the election, it takes a simple majority vote to pass a ballot initiative.