North Dakota voters will decide the fate of recreational marijuana for the third time since 2018 after the Secretary of State’s office approved the measure for the November ballot.
The office announced Monday that it had verified nearly 19,000 of the more than 22,000 signatures submitted to it. A total of 15,582 signatures were needed to be placed on the ballot.
“This is just an exciting day for North Dakota … both from an economic perspective and from a law enforcement and legal perspective,” said Steve Bakken, chairman of the measure’s sponsoring committee.
Of the more than 3,000 signatures rejected by the office, more than 1,300 were rejected for insufficient signatures; more than 900 were missing an address; about 120 did not contain a date, and about 100 had an out-of-state address.
“A big part of this is the education part,” Bakken said. “Educating the public, elected officials and everyone else about the actual measure and the actual impact, that’s where the recovery starts.”
Bakken said this recreational marijuana measure is more conservative than in past years and urged voters to read the text.
“It fits into the fabric of North Dakota, and it’s not coming from outside the state, it’s not going to be the wild, wild west,” he said. “The plants you can grow are conservative. You can’t cram your backyard with plants.”
He added that he believes the possession limits will help law enforcement identify who is growing marijuana for personal use and who may be trying to circumvent the law to traffic marijuana illegally.
If voters approve the bill, North Dakota residents ages 21 and older would be allowed to possess up to 28 grams of cannabis flower, up to 4 grams of THC concentrate, up to 1,500 milligrams of various cannabis products and up to 300 milligrams of edible THC products, according to the ballot proposal.
The North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association and the Chiefs of Police Association of North Dakota have opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana in the past. The groups have not yet taken a position on the measure. Some, including Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben, have expressed opposition.
“The legalization of marijuana leads to more crime, more drunk driving and an increase in the illegal trade in harder drugs,” Leben said.
Adults could also grow up to three marijuana plants in a private home or on private property, which is generally not open to the public, with the owner’s consent.
The initiative bans cannabis consumption in all public places, indoors and outdoors. It also bans cannabis consumption while driving and using public transport.
The measure gives rights to people who may have been penalized for cannabis use in certain situations in the past, while also protecting employers who may continue to enforce zero-tolerance policies in their companies.
“This doesn’t further limit the limited workforce we have in North Dakota,” Bakken said. “That’s kind of a misconception and we need to work on that. That’s the educational part … this isn’t 1960s Reefer Madness.”
Pat Finken, chairman of the Brighter Future Alliance, said the organization opposed both previous ballot attempts to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota.
“The people of North Dakota strongly rejected the idea of recreational marijuana in 2018 and 2022, but now they are back,” Finken said in a Brighter Future Alliance press release.
Dr. Joan Connell, a pediatrician from Bismarck, also spoke out against the measure in a statement from the Brighter Future Alliance, citing research on chronic marijuana use.
“I am not in favor of legalizing yet another substance that sabotages normal brain development,” Connell said. “I am disappointed that some people are putting business and profits above the well-being of the citizens of North Dakota.”
This article first appeared in North Dakota Monitora sister site to the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network.
