Over a week after a group of North Dakotans filed a 2024 ballot measure petition to legalize recreational cannabis, the state’s top election official gave the green light for signature gathering to begin, reported ABC News.
The New Economic Frontier, a cannabis advocacy committee behind the push, needs to garner and submit 15,582 valid signatures to Secretary of State Michael Howe by July 8 in order to place the measure on the November general election ballot.
Under a measure’s 20-page text, personal recreational marijuana use at home would be legal for those 21 and older. The measure proposes setting up a regulatory framework for the production and processing of cannabis as well as prohibited uses.
Steve Bakken, a Burleigh County commissioner and former Bismarck mayor, who is behind the initiative, said law enforcement resources “should be directed someplace a little more effectual.”
Criminal defense attorney Mark Friese, who previously served as a Bismarck police officer, agreed with Bakken, adding that his efforts are directed toward preventing North Dakota from becoming an island of prohibition.
See also: North Dakota Lawmakers Say No To Cannabis Edibles, Here’s Why GOP-Led House Killed Two MMJ Bills
“We spend too many resources, we spend too much money, we criminalize behavior that’s more benign than alcohol consumption, and we have a mental health and true drug crisis going on in our communities, and we’re diverting law enforcement resources away from…
