Advocates in Idaho, arguably the least-cannabis-friendly state in the United States, are laying ambitious plans to skip over medical marijuana and go straight to adult use.
At least, that’s the goal of the proposed 2026 ballot initiative that campaign organization Kind Idaho recently filed with Idaho’s secretary of state, according to The Inlander.
Campaigners would have until April 2026 to collect roughly 70,000 valid signatures from registered voters.
It’s anybody’s guess who might be willing to support such an effort.
Campaigns in 2022 and 2024 failed to get medical marijuana on Idaho’s ballot.
And recent adult-use legalization efforts in red states such as North Dakota and South Dakota have repeatedly failed.
Those were funded by existing medical marijuana businesses, and Idaho has none.
National hemp companies currently avoid Idaho, where state law requires exactly 0.0% THC in even CBD products, despite more permissive allowances in the 2018 Farm Bill.
“Any level exceeding 0% THC in manufactured hemp products is subject to law enforcement,” according to the Idaho agriculture department.
Despite this prohibitionist environment, 68% of respondents to a 2022 Idaho Statesmen poll said they supported medical marijuana.
