Group files petitions to put recreational marijuana on North Dakota's November ballot
Organizers of a proposed ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota have submitted petitions
BISMARCK, N.D. — Organizers of a ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota submitted petition signatures on Monday, likely setting up another statewide vote on the issue that voters and state lawmakers have previously defeated.
The New Economic Frontier measure group submitted more than 22,000 signatures, sponsoring committee chairman Steve Bakken said. The initiative needs 15,582 valid signatures to make the Nov. 5 general election 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 measure is an effort to preclude any one from out of state that might be potentially unmanageable.
“A lot of what we don't want to see is what's going on in some of the other states, and we think that this is a measure that fits the conservative nature of North Dakota,” Bakken told reporters in an office where Howe's staff unboxed petitions. Also, law enforcement resources should focus more on opioids and fentanyl, not minor marijuana offenses, he said.
The 20-page statutory measure would legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and older to use at their homes and, if permitted, on others’ private property. The measure also outlines numerous production and processing regulations, prohibited uses — such as in public or in vehicles — and would allow home cultivation of plants.
The measure 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
Read more on abcnews.go.com
