<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>This Idaho initiative would have legalized medical marijuana. It
won’t be on the ballot <br>
</p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="byline"> <a href="mailto:rsuppe@idahostatesman.com">
By Ryan Suppe</a><time id="update_date" class="update-date
time" datetime="2022-04-21T16:16:18-06:00"> Updated April
21, 2022 4:16 PM</time> </p>
</div>
</div>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://tinyurl.com/2yd7h5jv">https://tinyurl.com/2yd7h5jv</a> <br>
</p>
<p>-- or --</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article260563347.html#storylink=mainstage_card">https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article260563347.html#storylink=mainstage_card</a>
<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Idaho marijuana advocates have waited since 2010 for a vote to <a
href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article249819173.html"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">legalize cannabis as medicine</a>,
and they’ll have to wait at least two more years. </p>
<p>“We aren’t going to meet numbers,” said Joe Evans, treasurer for
Kind Idaho, a political action committee collecting signatures to
put a <a
href="https://sos.idaho.gov/elections/initiatives/2022/Idaho_Medical_Marijuana_Act.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">medical marijuana initiative</a> on
the November ballot. </p>
<p>Kind Idaho has collected about one-tenth of the nearly 70,000
signatures required to qualify the initiative for the November
ballot, Evans said. A lack of national support and local
organizational snafus led to the disappointing effort this cycle,
advocates said.</p>
<p>“We ran into some issues along the way with basically starting up
a grassroots organization without any sort of financial backing or
assistance,” Evans told the Idaho Statesman by phone. </p>
<p>Another organization hoping to decriminalize marijuana possession
won’t meet its goal either. The deadline to submit the signatures
is April 29.</p>
<div class="zone grid combo"> </div>
<h3>A change in tune in Idaho Legislature</h3>
<p>While citizen initiatives stalled this election cycle, advocates
see promising signs in the Idaho Legislature, which has been
sending mixed signals on its appetite for legalization. </p>
<p>The historically anti-marijuana Republican leaders didn’t try to
stymie legalization efforts this year, and lawmakers authorized
the use of a <a
href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article257410612.html"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">cannabis-derived pain relief spray</a>.
</p>
<p>Last year, lawmakers considered, but ultimately rejected, an
anti-drug constitutional amendment <span>t</span>hat would have
required the majority of the Legislature to <a
href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article250698864.html"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">approve any legalization attempts</a>
by ballot initiative. </p>
<p>Another bill last year would have barred advocates from
collecting signatures at Oregon, Washington and Nevada retail
locations frequented by Idaho residents. Legislators passed that
bill, but Gov. Brad Little — <a
href="https://www.postregister.com/news/government/as-opinions-shift-marijuana-emerges-as-wedge-issue/article_57a39240-389e-54bc-9a5f-0f5888359575.html"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">who has said</a> he will never sign
off on marijuana legalization — vetoed it for constitutional
concerns. </p>
<div class="zone grid combo"> </div>
<p>Meanwhile, Idaho last year became the last state to <a
href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article250508634.html"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">legalize hemp</a> for industrial
and agricultural uses. Hemp is a cannabis-derived crop with a wide
variety of uses, including in manufacturing and textiles. </p>
<p>“I see — with the exception of a few personalities — the trend,
even among Republicans, that medical marijuana is becoming more
and more of a potential reality in the state of Idaho,” Evans
said. </p>
<p>One of the few vocal supporters of medical marijuana in the
Legislature is Rep. Mike Kingsley, R-Lewiston. Kingsley fought
last year’s <a
href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article250698864.html"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">constitutional amendment</a>, and
he believes that “battle” helped persuade lawmakers to authorize a
cannabis-derived relief spray for people with multiple sclerosis
once it gains approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
</p>
<p>“I’m excited about that,” Kingsley told the Statesman by phone.
“I think it’s a good sign for the future.”</p>
<p><a
href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/where-is-marijuana-legal-a-guide-to-marijuana-legalization"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">Recreational marijuana is legal</a>
in 18 states, including four states bordering Idaho, and
Washington, D.C., while 19 states legalized the drug for medicinal
purposes. Some states, such as Nebraska, where pot is still
illegal, eliminated jail requirements for people who possess small
amounts. </p>
<p>Online polling suggests most Idahoans support legalizing
marijuana. Sixty percent of respondents to an <a
href="https://civiqs.com/results/cannabis_legal?annotations=true&uncertainty=true&zoomIn=true&home_state=Idaho"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">Internet poll by Civiqs</a> said
they support legalization. That’s up five percentage points from
2018. Eighty-seven percent of Democrats in Idaho, 70% of
independents and 43% of Republicans support legalization,
according to the poll.</p>
<p>Kingsley does not support recreational use in Idaho. Instead,
he’s advocating for people with cancer and other illnesses — such
as his uncle, who had to illegally obtain marijuana for cancer
treatment. </p>
<p>“I do not want Idaho to become like Washington, or Oregon, or
California,” Kingsley said. “I’m highly against recreational, but
it’s definitely medicine.”</p>
<h3>Marijuana advocates look ahead</h3>
<p>Legalization attempts have failed to garner enough support in
each initiative cycle since 2010. </p>
<p>“Why? No money,” Russ Belville, who’s leading a <a
href="https://sos.idaho.gov/elections/initiatives/2022/PAMDA.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">decriminalization initiative</a>
for Legalize the Idaho Way, said in a recent social media post.
Belville did not respond to an interview request.</p>
<p>Legalize the Idaho Way also won’t have enough signatures for the
November ballot. Idaho advocates aren’t attracting support from
national organizations with deep pockets, Belville said in the <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1085048668895034"
target="_blank" rel="Follow">Facebook video</a>. </p>
<p>Local advocates will try again in 2024. Evans, who is running as
a Libertarian in the 1st Congressional District race against
incumbent GOP Rep. Russ Fulcher, said Kind Idaho is shifting its
focus to electing pro-marijuana candidates. </p>
<p>Before the 2024 petition launches, organizational problems need
to be addressed, Evans said. Volunteers often struggle with
signature gathering rules, Evans said, and miscommunication is
compounded by frequent turnover in leadership. </p>
<p>“It’s almost like we’ve started fresh every time we’ve tried to
run it,” Evans said. </p>
<p>Idaho law requires signatures from 6% of registered voters in 18
of the state’s 35 legislative districts to qualify an initiative
for the ballot.</p>
</body>
</html>