North Dakota recreational marijuana measure fails to qualify for ballot

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One effort to place a recreational marijuana initiative on the North Dakota ballot in November has failed, but a separate drive is being contemplated.

Dustin Peyer, sponsor of the failed initiative, told The Bismarck Tribune that his group was able to collect only 19,500 signatures in the one-year time limit since the petition was approved by the Secretary of State’s office.

The group needed at least 31,164 verified signatures to put the adult-use question to voters.

Matt Schweich, deputy director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told MJBizDaily that his Washington, DC-based organization is exploring the possibility of a separate 2022 adult-use cannabis initiative in North Dakota.

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Schweich wouldn’t say who MPP is working with, “but if we decide to move forward, we will work to earn the support of all grassroots cannabis reform groups in North Dakota,” he wrote in an email.

Legalize ND is another group that said last year that it was going to try to put recreational marijuana on the ballot, but its website said the effort is on hold because of COVID-19.