North Dakota: Statewide Medical Cannabis Proposal Will Not Appear On 2012 Ballot

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North Dakota: Statewide Medical Cannabis Proposal Will Not Appear On 2012 Ballot

 

Thursday, 06 September 2012

 

Bismarck, ND: A statewide proposal to allow for the possession and state-licensed distribution of cannabis for therapeutic purposes will not appear on the November 2012 ballot, the Associated Press reported this week.

 

The measure was one of two citizens initiatives rejected by the Secretary of States office on Monday. According to the AP, paid petitioners falsified thousands of names that they purported to have collected from registered voters.

 

Eight players on North Dakota State University's football team are facing charges of petition fraud for their participation in the alleged scheme.

 

The citizens initiative, proposed by North Dakotans for Compassionate Care, sought to eliminate statewide criminal and civil penalties regarding the physician-recommended use, possession and/or cultivation of cannabis for various qualifying medical conditions, including cancer, Crohn's disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

Voters in six states - Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Montana, Oregon, and Washington - will be deciding on marijuana-specific ballot measures this November.

 

In Massachusetts, voters will decide on Question 3, a statewide proposal that seeks to allow for the physician-recommended possession and state-licensed distribution of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.

 

In Arkansas voters will decide on a similar measure, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act of 2012. Montana voters will decide on Initiative Referendum 124, which seeks to repeal amendments enacted by lawmakers in 2011 to restrict the state's 2004, voter approved medical cannabis law.

 

In Colorado voters will decide on Amendment 64, which immediately allows for the legal possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and/or the cultivation of up to six cannabis plants by those persons age 21 and over. Longer-term, the measure seeks to establish regulations governing the commercial production and distribution of marijuana by licensed retailers.

 

In Oregon voters will decide on Measure 80, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, which provides for the state-licensed production and retail sale of cannabis to adults. The measure does not impose state-licensing or taxation requirements upon those who wish to cultivate cannabis for non-commercial purposes. Finally, in Washington, voters will decide on Initiative 502, which seeks to regulate the production and sale of limited amounts of marijuana for adults. The measure also removes criminal penalties specific to the adult possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for personal use.

 

NORML has additional details about this November's statewide and municipal ballot proposals here:

 

http://norml.org/about/smoke-the-vote.