Cannabis Legalization Initiative In North Dakota: Activists Submit More Than Enough Signatures To Place The Measure On November Ballot

Members of the New Economic Frontier, which is behind the push to legalize marijuana in North Dakota, delivered boxes filled with 22,444 signatures to the State Capitol on Monday. That's just days after the campaign confirmed it has gathered enough signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot.

If approved, this push would be the third time to ask voters to legalize recreational marijuana this November, as previous efforts in 2018 and 2022 to legalize recreational cannabis in North Dakota failed.

"As we’re getting closer and closer and closer, why this is important now is because at some point it’s going to pass," Steve Bakken, said former Bismarck mayor and chairperson for the ballot-initiative group, reported InForum.

Read Also: North Dakota Hospice Patients To Self-Certify For Medical Marijuana As Governor Signs Bill

The Secretary of State’s office now has until Aug. 12 to validate the signatures and confirm that the campaign has reached the goal of 15,582 required signatures, representing 2% of the state’s population.

Under the proposed measure, personal recreational marijuana use at home would be legal for adults over 21. Also, the possession of an ounce of cannabis flower, 4 grams of concentrate and edible products containing up to 1500 milligrams would be legal as well as cultivation of up to three cannabis plants per resident or six per household. The measure also proposes setting up a regulatory framework for the production and processing of cannabis as well as prohibited uses.

However, a new poll showed most North Dakota voters don’t want legal marijuana. More precisely, 57% of those asked said they oppose recreational cannabis reform, while 43% are in favor, according to a survey of 500 likely voters completed by Opinion Strategies on behalf of the Brighter Future Alliance.

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• North Dakota Lawmakers Say No To Cannabis Edibles, Here’s Why GOP-Led House Killed Two MMJ Bills

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