Initiative to include recreational marijuana use on ballot introduced in North Dakota

The New Economic Frontier initiative group has submitted more than 22,000 signatures, sponsoring committee chairman Steve Bakken said at a news conference, to put recreational marijuana use on the Nov. 5 ballot. Secretary of State Michael Howe’s office has until Aug. 12 to review the petition signatures.

Bakken, a Burleigh County commissioner and former Bismarck mayor, said the move is an effort to exclude anyone from out of state who might be potentially unmanageable, The Associated Press reported.

“Misdemeanors related to marijuana”

“A lot of the things we don’t want to see are things that are happening in other states, and we think this is a move that fits with the conservative nature of North Dakota,” Bakken told reporters. Law enforcement resources should also be focused more on opioids and fentanyl, not low-level marijuana-related crimes, he said.

The 20-page measure, according to AP, would legalize recreational marijuana use for people 21 and older in their homes and, if allowed, on other people’s private property. The measure also outlines numerous production and processing rules, prohibited uses (such as in public or in vehicles) and would allow home cultivation of plants.

1 ounce of leaves or 4 grams of concentrate

The state initiative would set maximum purchase and possession amounts of 1 ounce of dried leaves or flowers, 4 grams of a cannabinoid concentrate, 1,500 mg of total THC in the form of a cannabis product and 300 mg of an edible product. It would allow cannabis solutions, capsules, transdermal patches, concentrates, topical products and edibles.

Marijuana use by anyone under 21 is a misdemeanor in North Dakota. Recreational use by older people is not a crime, although possession is, and penalties range from an infraction to a misdemeanor depending on the amount of marijuana.

Thousands charged with marijuana possession

Last year, more than 4,000 people statewide were charged with marijuana use or possession, according to North Dakota court data requested by The Associated Press. It’s important to note that delivery of any amount of marijuana is a felony when it occurs within 300 feet of a school.

North Dakota voters previously rejected legalization measures in 2018 and 2022. In 2021, the House of Representatives passed bills to legalize and tax recreational marijuana, but the Senate rejected them.

Voters approved medical marijuana use in 2016. In 2019, the state’s Pardon Advisory Board approved a new process to facilitate pardons for marijuana-related misdemeanors.

Several states have legalized marijuana

Across the country, 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults. Ohio recently did so through an initiative in November 2023. Measures will be put to a vote in Florida and South Dakota in November.

In May, the federal government began a process to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

With information from AP

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