Marijuana Moment: Idaho Medical Marijuana Campaign Submits Ballot Signatures For Final Review By State Officials Following County Verification

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An Idaho medical marijuana campaign has announced that it submitted county-verified petitions for its proposed legalization initiative to state officials for a final review to determine whether the measure can appear on the November ballot.

The press release from the Natural Medical Alliance of Idaho (NMAI), however, did not specify whether the already-completed county-level review indicates that they submitted enough valid signatures in a sufficient number of counties to qualify for ballot access, and a spokesperson did respond to Marijuana Moment’s request for clarification.

To be certified for the ballot, the team needs to submit signatures from at least 6 percent of registered voters as of the state’s last general election, which currently amounts to 70,725. They also need to meet that 6 percent threshold in at least 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.

While the campaign submitted more than 150,000 total signatures in May, there have been some recent indications that there could be an issue meeting the county-level requirement.

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

“Now that the initiative is in the Secretary of State’s hands, we are focused on seeing that process through carefully and completely as they perform their review,” the update that NMAI sent on Thursday says. “We will continue to work with their office and share updates on the status of the initiative as we have them.”

“It is worth saying who we are. NMAI is not a large organization or a political machine,” the group said. “It began with a few people, the friends and family of a remarkable Idaho pediatrician who passed after a brave and difficult battle with brain cancer, whose wish was that others who are suffering would have a better, natural alternative to opioids. They are the ones who carried her vision forward and set out to bring this question to the voters of Idaho.”

“Through this effort, more than 150,000 signatures were collected in every corner of Idaho and polling found 83 percent of voters in Idaho support a medical cannabis program. Throughout this process, the people of Idaho showed up. They shared their support with friends and neighbors, they worked on this effort in good faith, they donated, and they volunteered. An effort of this scale requires specialized help, and so NMAI entrusted the signature-gathering work to professional outside contractors engaged for that purpose, relying on their expertise and their representations to meet the standards Idaho law requires.”

Regardless of whether the measure ultimately makes the ballot this year, NMAI said that “Idahoans support this.”

“That support and the turnout of thousands and thousands of Idahoans is what carried this effort,” the campaign’s update said. “It is the people of Idaho who have given us confidence and who have touched our hearts.”

Meanwhile, voters this year 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—preventing the reform from being enacted by voters via a ballot initiative.

While NMAI has 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 “reject” the medical marijuana petition.

The measure, sponsored by the Senate State Affairs Committee, claims that cannabis legalization in other states has led to a host of harms, including “increased cartel activity, development of black market marijuana production, human trafficking, and increased crime rates” as well as “increased rates of serious health issues,” environmental harms and “safety concerns on job sites.”

It argues that the marijuana initiative would not only increase costs to the state but that its list of approved medical conditions is “so broad that almost anyone could qualify.”

“The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act lacks safeguards to such an extent that it would effectively legalize widespread recreational use of marijuana,” the resolution claims. “The legalization of marijuana would have devastating impacts on Idaho children and their families… The Legislature urges the citizens of Idaho to reject any effort to bring the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act to the ballot.”

A statement of purpose filed with the legislation says it “addresses the devastating impact that legalizing marijuana has had on other states” and “identifies the significant problems” with the ballot initiative.

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.

Meanwhile, NMAI recently released an analysis showing that Idaho could see more than $100 million worth of medical marijuana sold on an annual basis and up to $28 million in new yearly revenue for state coffers if voters  approve the legalization initiative.

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.

Here are the main provisions of the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act:

• Health practitioners would be able to recommend medical cannabis to patients with conditions that include, but are not limited to, cancer, anxiety and acute pain.
• Medical marijuana patients or their designated caregiver could purchase up to 113 grams of smokeable cannabis, or 20 grams of THC extract for vaping, per month.
• The state would be start by issuing three vertically integrated cannabis business licenses, after which point it could license up to six total.
• Marijuana would be reclassified under state law as a Schedule II, rather than Schedule I, controlled substance.
• State and local law enforcement would be barred from assisting in federal drug enforcement activities related to the state-legal cannabis program.
• There would be anti-discrimination protections for those who use or sell marijuana in compliance from state law, preventing adverse actions by employers, landlords and educational institutions.
• It does not appear that there would be any equity-centered reforms, nor would the initiative provide for a home grow option.

“We believe Idahoans deserve access to legal, compassionate, natural care right here at home,” NMAI’s website says. “Our mission is to give patients a legal pathway to natural medicine that can ease suffering and restore dignity without the fear of addiction.”

“The 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,” it says. “It supports Idaho agriculture, generates tax revenue to reinvest locally, and ensures that patients can find natural relief.”

The campaign in February also released the results of a statewide poll showing that 83 percent of likely voters back medical cannabis legalization, including 74 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of Democrats and 92 percent of independents.

Asked how they would vote if the current medical cannabis legalization does appear on the November ballot, 76 percent of respondents said “yes.” Of that cohort, 50 percent said they would “definitively” vote yes, and just 21 percent said they’d vote “no.”

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 ballot initiative to legalize the personal possession and cultivation of marijuana by adults.

Kind Idaho previously introduced medical marijuana ballot measures intended to go before voters in both the 2022 and 2024 elections, but the efforts proved unsuccessful.

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Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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Legislators separately held a hearing last year to discuss a bill to enact medical cannabis legalization legislatively, but there hasn’t been meaningful action on the issue in the months since.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) last year signed legislation setting a $300 mandatory minimum fine for marijuana possession. A prior version of the proposal, which did not pass, would have set a $420 mandatory minimum fine for possessing cannabis.

Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.

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