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The Idaho House of Representatives has joined the Senate in approving a resolution urging voters to \u201creject\u201d an effort to place an initiative to legalize medical marijuana<\/a> on the state\u2019s November ballot.<\/p>\n The measure, sponsored by the Senate State Affairs Committee, claims that cannabis legalization in other states has led to a host of harms, including \u201cincreased cartel activity, development of black market marijuana production, human trafficking, and increased crime rates\u201d as well as \u201cincreased rates of serious health issues,\u201d environmental harms and \u201csafety concerns on job sites.\u201d<\/p>\n After passing the Senate in a voice vote earlier last week, SCR 127 cleared the House on Wednesday in a 58-9 vote. It argues that the marijuana initiative would not only increase costs to the state but that its list of approved medical conditions is \u201cso broad that almost anyone could qualify.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Idaho Medical Cannabis Act lacks safeguards to such an extent that it would effectively legalize widespread recreational use of marijuana,\u201d the resolution claims. \u201cThe legalization of marijuana would have devastating impacts on Idaho children and their families\u2026 The Legislature urges the citizens of Idaho to reject any effort to bring the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act to the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n A statement of purpose filed with the legislation says it \u201caddresses the devastating impact that legalizing marijuana has had on other states\u201d and \u201cidentifies the significant problems\u201d with the ballot initiative.<\/p>\n The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho (NMAI), which is leading the effort to place the legalization measure before voters this November, has pushed back against the resolution.<\/p>\n \u201cIdahoans deserve to vote on this issue, and we are confident we will be able to get it in front of them this November to do just that,\u201d Amanda Watson, a spokesperson for the group, said in a press release last month when the resolution was filed. \u201cThere are thousands of people across Idaho with stories like Dr. Tunney\u2019s and they deserve dignified care and the option to choose an alternative to opioids. NMAI has operating field offices in every corner of the state and we are actively recruiting more team members in Coeur d\u2019Alene, Meridian, Boise, Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls. We are not taking our foot off the gas until the final bell rings.\u201d<\/p>\n Contrary to the claims made about marijuana reform in the legislative resolution<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen (R) said in a House State Affairs Committee hearing ahead of the floor vote that \u201cI have traveled not only this country but across the globe, and I\u2019m here to tell you everywhere that they have legalized marijuana, you see much more homelessness, you see people that are just completely out of it, and it is not something I want to see in Idaho.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Jaron Crane (R) compared places with legal marijuana access to Idaho\u2019s biggest city.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels different walking in downtown Portland and Seattle than it does walking in Boise,\u201d he said<\/a>, KIVI-TV reported. \u201cThe cost will definitely always be higher than the benefit of projected tax revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n NMAI recently released an analysis showing that\u00a0Idaho could see more than $100 million worth of medical marijuana sold<\/a> on an annual basis and up to $28 million in new yearly revenue for state coffers if voters\u00a0 approve the legalization initiative.<\/p>\n The group also announced that it\u2019s collected enough signatures for the cannabis measure<\/a> to exceed the statewide threshold for ballot qualification. But because it\u2019s unclear how many signatures the campaign has collected to far are valid and whether activists have met a separate requirement for regional distribution of petitions, NMAI is continuing to hold signature gathering events across the state to widen their coalition of supporters in the run-up to the May 1 submission deadline.<\/p>\n Amanda Watson, NMAI\u2019s communications lead, told Marijuana Moment last month that organizers \u201cfeel very confident we will qualify for the ballot in November.\u201d<\/p>\n As of Monday, NMAI has collected more than 77,000 signatures total\u2014exceeding the 70,725 statewide requirement for valid petitions\u2014according to the campaign\u2019s website. To be certified for the ballot, the team also needs to submit signatures from 6 percent of registered voters from at least 18 of the state\u2019s 35 legislative districts.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, teams of paid and volunteer petitioners<\/a> are being deployed throughout the state to target high-traffic areas to gather signatures, and NMAI\u2019s website features a map showing where registered voters can go to sign.<\/p>\n\n 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.<\/p>\n Here are the main provisions of the\u00a0Idaho Medical Cannabis Act<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe believe Idahoans deserve access to legal, compassionate, natural care right here at home,\u201d NMAI\u2019s website says. \u201cOur mission is to give patients a legal pathway to natural medicine that can ease suffering and restore dignity without the fear of addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d it says<\/a>. \u201cIt supports Idaho agriculture, generates tax revenue to reinvest locally, and ensures that patients can find natural relief.\u201d<\/p>\n The campaign in February also released the results of a statewide poll showing that 83 percent of likely voters back medical cannabis legalization<\/a>, including 74 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of Democrats and 92 percent of independents.<\/p>\n Asked how they would vote if the current medical cannabis legalization does appear on the November ballot, 76 percent of respondents said \u201cyes.\u201d Of that cohort, 50 percent said they would \u201cdefinitively\u201d vote yes, and just 21 percent said they\u2019d vote \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u00a0ballot initiative to legalize the personal possession and cultivation of marijuana<\/a>\u00a0by adults.<\/p>\n Kind Idaho\u00a0previously introduced medical marijuana ballot measures intended to go before voters<\/a>\u00a0in both the 2022 and 2024 elections, but the efforts proved unsuccessful.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, voters this year will see a different kind of proposal on the ballot: A constitutional amendment that the legislature approved to make it so\u00a0only lawmakers could legalize marijuana or other controlled substances<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Legislators separately held a hearing last March to discuss\u00a0a bill to enact medical cannabis legalization legislatively<\/a>, but there hasn\u2019t been meaningful action on the issue in the months since.<\/p>\n Separately, a bill from Rep. Bruce Skaug (R) last year would have\u00a0set a $420 mandatory minimum fine for cannabis possession<\/a>, removing judges\u2019 discretion to apply lower penalties. Skaug said the bill, which ultimately stalled in committee, would send the message that Idaho is tough on marijuana.<\/p>\n House lawmakers also passed\u00a0a bill to ban marijuana advertisements<\/a>, though the Senate later defeated the measure.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Idaho Lawmakers Approve Resolution Asking Voters To Reject Medical Cannabis Ballot Measure<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Idaho House of Representatives has joined the Senate in approving a resolution urging voters to \u201creject\u201d an effort to place an initiative to legalize medical marijuana on the state\u2019s November ballot. The measure, sponsored by the Senate State Affairs Committee, claims that cannabis legalization in other states has ledContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":85774,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85775,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85773\/revisions\/85775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Idaho Lawmakers Approve Resolution Asking Voters To Reject Medical Cannabis Ballot Measure<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"