Group files petitions to put recreational marijuana on North Dakota's November ballot

Source: Associated Press

Group files petitions to put recreational marijuana on North Dakota’s November ballot

BY JACK DURA
Updated 4:47 PM EDT, July 8, 2024

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — 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.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-recreational-marijuana-ballot-initiative-election-30f90ed680791c154dee0e0f16804342