{"id":86487,"date":"2026-07-28T05:52:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/07\/28\/idaho-medical-marijuana-campaign-reacts-to-state-officials-claims-about-its-unsuccessful-push-to-get-on-ballot\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T19:47:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T03:47:53","slug":"idaho-medical-marijuana-campaign-reacts-to-state-officials-claims-about-its-unsuccessful-push-to-get-on-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/07\/28\/idaho-medical-marijuana-campaign-reacts-to-state-officials-claims-about-its-unsuccessful-push-to-get-on-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho Medical Marijuana Campaign Reacts To State Official\u2019s Claims About Its Unsuccessful Push To Get On Ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A campaign that tried unsuccessfully to get a medical cannabis legalization initiative on Idaho\u2019s ballot<\/a> this year is pushing back against a top state official\u2019s claims about its petitioning drive.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Phil McGrane (R) said earlier this month that his office received \u201creceived numerous complaints concerning the petition process\u201d for the marijuana initiative\u2014adding that \u201ceven under the most favorable assumption\u201d that every petition sheet turned in was timely filed and that every submitted signature was valid, activists still wouldn\u2019t have met minimum requirements. He also said that possible illegal petitioning conduct has been referred to the State Police for \u201creview and potential criminal investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, in a letter to McGrane, a lawyer for the Natural Medical Alliance of Idaho (NMAI) says that the campaign \u201cdoes not agree with several issues\u201d the secretary of state raised\u2014although he made clear that advocates won\u2019t be pursuing a legal challenge to the decision to keep the measure off the November ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To be certified for the ballot, the team needed to submit signatures from at least 6 percent of registered voters as of the state\u2019s last general election, which currently amounts to 70,725. They also needed to meet that 6 percent threshold in at least 18 of the state\u2019s 35 legislative districts. But the secretary of state said they only turned in\u00a058,024 county-certified signatures and met the local threshold in only 13 districts.<\/p>\n

The new letter on behalf of NMAI, signed by Jeremy C. Chou of Givens Pursley LLP, said that there was an \u201cunusually high rejection rate\u201d for the cannabis campaign\u2019s petitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears that well over 10,000 signatures from registered Idaho voters were rejected based on technicalities or legally questionable grounds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For example, Chou wrote that the decision to reject signatures due to voters from different counties signing a single petition sheet \u201cmay have served a purpose when clerks had access only to county records, Idaho now maintains a statewide voter-registration database.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said the rejection of signatures because they were undated is \u201cespecially concerning because the governing statutes do not expressly require each signer to provide a date.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NMAI attorney additionally questioned the decision not to accept signatures from voters deemed to be not \u201cactive,\u201d writing that \u201cthe initiative statutes do not impose a specific registration timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter from Chou also notes state officials\u2019 concerns about circulator residency and petition warning requirements, saying that the campaign relied on a contractor to handle much of the signature gathering effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the contractor inadequately documented residency or used an incorrect form, NMAI nevertheless acted in good faith to comply with Idaho law,\u201d the letter, which was first reported by KTVB-TV, says.<\/p>\n

Regarding the secretary of state\u2019s flagging potentially fraudulent petitioning activity\u2014including the submission of a signature purporting to be from a person who died in 2021\u2014Chou said the campaign \u201chas zero tolerance for fraud and stands ready to cooperate with any fraud-related investigation\u201d and arguing that \u201ca small number of questionable signatures do not undermine the integrity of the broader signature-gathering effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, regarding potential campaign finance reporting deficiencies related to disclosures for paid signature gatherers, Chou again put the blame on the petitioning contractor firm.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the extent the concerns involve reporting of payments to petition circulators, NMAI engaged a professional contractor to manage circulator payments; that contractor held all payment data and was required by law to accurately report that information,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn any event, reporting deficiencies of this kind do not provide a basis for rejecting otherwise valid signatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Black Peak, the petitioning contractor that NMAI first used before switching to a different one, responded to the campaign\u2019s criticism, saying it \u201cstands behind the work we did to help bring medical cannabis access to Idaho voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur petition circulators operated under clear rules and clear expectations. We collected identification from every circulator we hired, and we confirmed each circulator\u2019s Idaho residency on three separate occasions during the application and onboarding process,\u201d it told<\/a> KTVB. \u201cEvery signature we collected was then subjected to a rigorous validation process, including a forensic handwriting review, before it was submitted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for the Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho\u2019s claim that our operation was disorganized, the record tells a different story. Black Peak did the job we were hired to do. The Alliance owes Black Peak a substantial sum for services rendered and has chosen to attack our work rather than pay its bills. Criticizing a vendor you have not paid is not accountability. It is deflection, and Idaho voters deserve better from a group asking for their trust. The problems on this campaign did not begin in the field, and they did not end there. Black Peak remains prepared to resolve any outstanding matters professionally, and we wish the effort to expand patient access in Idaho every success.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the cannabis campaign submitted more than 150,000 total signatures<\/a> in May, there were some recent indications that there could be an issue meeting the county-level requirement as well as potentially the statewide total.<\/p>\n

A judge ruled last month that signatures in Minidoka County were turned in too late to be counted<\/a>. Separately, some petitions for the medical cannabis measure throughout the state were at risk of being thrown out due to the possibility they may have been collected by out-of-state circulators.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, voters in November will see a different kind of cannabis proposal on the ballot: A constitutional amendment that the legislature approved to make it so only lawmakers could legalize marijuana or other controlled substances<\/a>\u2014preventing the reform from being enacted by voters via a future ballot initiative.<\/p>\n

While NMAI pursued ballot access for the legalization measure, Idaho lawmakers have also pushed back in other ways. Both the Senate and House of Representatives passed a resolution this session urging voters to \u201creject\u201d the medical marijuana petition<\/a>.<\/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

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

Contrary to the claims made about marijuana reform in the legislative resolution, 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

Meanwhile, NMAI recently released an analysis showing that Idaho 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 approved the legalization initiative.<\/p>\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