Idaho Lawmakers Advance Resolution to Block Citizens From Voting on Cannabis Legalization | Where to buy Skittles Moonrock online

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Idaho House lawmakers are asking the people who voted them into office to now give up their voting powers on shaping the state’s public policy on legalizing cannabis, narcotics and “psychoactive” substances.

The state’s representatives voted, 58-10, in the lower chamber on March 5 to pass House Joint Resolution 4, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa. HJR 4 aims to put a question before voters in 2026 that would ask for their approval to amend the Idaho Constitution.

Although the resolution itself is not a bill that would enact a new law, its intentions are clear: Immediately upon voter approval, only the Legislature “shall have the power and authority to legalize the growing, producing, manufacturing, transporting, selling, delivering, dispensing, administering, prescribing, distributing, possessing or using of marijuana, narcotics or other psychoactive substances.”

Although one lawmaker questioned during this week’s floor session if caffeine—a psychoactive substance—would be impacted, he was informed that the resolution only dealt with substances that are currently prohibited.

In other words, lawmakers are trying to prevent Idahoans from passing citizen-initiated ballot measures that would legalize medical or adult-use cannabis. Idaho is one of eight states in the nation absent of laws for a medical cannabis program, even a highly restrictive one such as in Texas, where THC is capped at 1%.

“It’s time for Idahoans to proactively decide the state’s fate relative to marijuana, psychoactive substances and narcotics,” Skaug said March 5 on the House floor. “I’m asking that we let our state go on the offense. Why pass this? In the Idaho Constitution, ‘The first concern of all good government is the virtue and sobriety of the people.’ That’s in our constitution. I don’t gloss over that when I read our constitution.”

Skaug later asked, “What is more evil than those that we know who have succumbed to death and overdoses from narcotics and these other substances?”

Although Skaug mentioned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported there were 105,007 drug overdose deaths in 2023, he failed to mention that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) asserted in December 2024 that “no deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported.” He also failed to mention that about 178,000 Americans die from excessive drinking each year, according to the CDC.

Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, spoke in opposition to HJR 4 before the vote on March 5, pointing the more than two-thirds of Idaho adults who said they believe medical cannabis should be legal in their state, according to an October 2022 SurveyUSA poll.

“All that this [resolution] does is it’s stripping the power of the people, should the people of Idaho ever reach that level where they are so desperate to get medical cannabis legalized that they are willing to leap through the astonishing hurdles that have already been set in their path for a ballot initiative,” Rubel said, adding that it takes thousands of volunteers working for months to collect more than 60,000 signatures from all over the state.

“We’re saying, preemptively, if the people of Idaho ever really, really want this in large numbers, we as their Legislature should stop them,” Rubel said. “That just doesn’t feel like an appropriate role for us as supposed representatives of the people. … I think we should let the people of Idaho have their wishes honored.”

HJR 4, which now must receive a two-thirds supermajority vote in the Idaho Senate before a question is placed on the 2026 ballot, collides with a broader attempt to legalize adult-use cannabis via the initiative process.

Kind Idaho is sponsoring a petition, titled Decriminalize Cannabis Now, that the nonprofit is circulating for signatures for the 2026 ballot. The campaign must collect valid signatures from at least 6% of registered voters statewide in the most recent general election and from at least 6% of registered voters in each of 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.

Kind Idaho attempted to land medical cannabis legalization measures on the 2022 and 2024 ballots but failed to gather enough signatures each time.

The group’s latest petition aims to allow adults 21 years and older to possess 1 ounce of cannabis or 1,000 milligrams of THC for personal use and grow up to 12 plants in their homes. It would not allow for cannabis sales, whether commercial or private.

Kind Idaho Executive Director Joe Evans urged House lawmakers to reject HJR 4 before their March 5 vote, saying that the resolution “harkens back the era of prohibition” and that thousands of Idahoans consume cannabis regularly.

“The nearly 30,000 Idahoans who cross the border weekly to participate in nearly $4 million in cannabis sales indicate that people are already making this choice for themselves and their health,” Evans said in a campaign statement, referring to bordering states Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Montana, where adult-use cannabis is legal.

“Increased education initiatives on beneficial and medicinal uses of cannabis has led to this current level of acceptance and use,” he said. “In states with legal access to cannabis products, we see a reduction in abuse, misuse, and the unintended consequences of black-market products.”

HJR 4’s advancement comes less than two weeks after Republican Gov. Brad Little signed legislation, House Bill 7, also sponsored by Skaug, that will impose mandatory fines for people convicted of possessing personal amounts of cannabis. Under current law, possessing any amount of cannabis in Idaho carries the possibility of up to one year of jail time.

Paul Armentano, deputy director for cannabis advocacy organization NORML, said Idaho’s elected representatives are not representing the majority of their constituents with the House passage of HJR 4.

“State lawmakers are well aware that their ‘reefer madness’ views are out of step with most Idahoans,” he said. “That is why they are seeking to remove voters from the equation. Whether or not one personally supports or opposes cannabis legalization, these overtly undemocratic tactics ought to be a cause of deep concern.”