Idaho's Secretary of State's Office ruled Tuesday that a medical marijuana legalization initiative missed the November ballot, short of the required signatures and district threshold.
Campaigns need signatures from 6 percent of voters registered at the last general election — 70,725 — across at least 18 of Idaho's 35 legislative districts. The Natural Medical Alliance of Idaho (NMAI) filed over 150,000 signatures in May, but a judge ruled last month that Minidoka County submissions arrived too late, and other petitions were flagged over concerns about out-of-state circulators.
NMAI said it was "shocked" by the outcome, blaming its original signature-gathering vendor before replacing it with a second firm. The Secretary of State's letter, NMAI said, described "missed deadlines, circulator documentation and payment disclosures, and petition materials prepared incorrectly or submitted late." The group said it has zero tolerance for signature fraud, will cooperate with any review, and is weighing legal options, saying "the demand Idahoans expressed through this campaign is not going away."
Voters will instead decide a legislature-referred constitutional amendment restricting future drug-law changes to lawmakers, not citizens. Both chambers passed a resolution urging rejection of NMAI's petition, citing alleged cartel activity, black-market production, trafficking, crime and health and safety harms in other legal states, and arguing the measure's qualifying conditions are broad enough for near-universal eligibility.
NMAI projected over $100 million in annual sales and up to $28 million yearly in state revenue. Its Idaho Medical Cannabis Act, unveiled last October, would let doctors recommend cannabis for conditions like cancer, anxiety and pain; cap purchases at 113 grams of smokeable product or 20 grams of THC extract monthly; start with three vertically integrated licenses, expandable to six; reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II; bar local police from aiding federal enforcement; and add anti-discrimination protections, without equity provisions or home cultivation.
A February poll found 83 percent of likely voters — including 74 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of Democrats and 92 percent of independents — backing medical legalization, with 76 percent saying they would vote yes.
Kind Idaho, which unsuccessfully sought adult-use legalization in 2022 and 2024, paused its own drive after NMAI's measure launched. Lawmakers held a hearing last year on medical marijuana legislation but took no further action. Gov. Brad Little (R) signed a bill last year setting a $300 mandatory minimum fine for marijuana possession, down from an earlier $420 proposal that failed.
