Idaho Medical Marijuana Legalization Effort Goes Up in Smoke as Signature Drive Sputters

Cross Idaho off the list of states that could pass medical cannabis legislation this year.

A group behind an effort to get MMJ on the fall ballot said it was unable to gather enough valid signatures to qualify the measure for the upcoming elections. It faced an uphill battle from the start, as many Idaho residents support the idea of medical marijuana but are split on whether it should be sold and how it should be distributed to patients.

Dubbed the Idaho Medical Choice Act, the initiative would have allowed adults with specific medical conditions to possess and use marijuana to ease their pain.

MMJ advocates leading the legalization charge – organized under a group called Compassionate Idaho – reportedly struggled to raise adequate funding to get the word out. In fact, the group was only able to gather about 10% of the total signatures needed, so it wasn’t even close.

Supporters vowed to try again in two years. But they’re going to need a lot more money and will have to put in a lot more time and effort into getting signatures to stand a chance. To be successful, they’ll have to take a different approach than they did the first time around.

More than a dozen states are considering some type of medical marijuana measure, and a handful – including Connecticut – appear to be well on their way to passing such laws. Sixteen states plus the District of Columbia already allow the use of medical marijuana.