An advocacy group is determined to bring medical cannabis to Idaho, one of the last remaining states with no form of legal weed. 

The group is called Kind Idaho, and its supporters are currently in the process of rounding up signatures to get the proposal on next year’s ballot.

Joe Evans, the treasurer for the group, said the aim is to simply legalize “medical cannabis for cardholders in the state of Idaho.”

“This gives them the opportunity to go in, sit down with a doctor, determine whether or not the diagnosis warrants medical cannabis to support recovery and healing. And then they receive the card. And that allows them to go to a dispensary to receive it,” Evans told local news station KTVB.

Here’s more from the station on what the group is pursuing:

“Kind Idaho is working to gather signatures on their petitions, they have until April 14 next year to get about 63,000 signatures from registered voters to make the ballot. It’s a major task to take on, adding in the fact that Idaho is one of five states where there is no legal cannabis on any level.”

The group launched its efforts to get on the 2024 ballot last year, the latest in a decade of failed efforts to legalize medical cannabis treatment in Idaho. In 2012, activists failed to gather a sufficient number of signatures for their medical cannabis proposal to qualify for the ballot. Two years later, it happened again, with a signature drive falling short. Medical cannabis campaigns in 2015 and 2016 both fizzled out over ballot technicalities. 

Evans and company hope this time will be different –– and the public might be on their side. A poll last year found that 68% of Idaho adults believe that medical cannabis should be made legal. 

Evans and other supporters of the proposal are stressing that the initiative would not legalize recreational marijuana use.

“Nor are we really looking at a full decriminalization, or let’s, you know, give people medicine, medical cannabis for headaches,” Evans told KTVB.

Idaho is, however, surrounded by states that have legalized recreational pot for adults: Washington and Oregon to the west; Nevada to the south; and Montana to the east. Wyoming and Utah are the only two states bordering Idaho that have not ended prohibition on pot.

That confluence of geography and federalism has prompted many Idaho residents to cross the border to obtain some legal weed.

Cannabis businesses in Ontario, Oregon –– located about an hour from Idaho’s capital city of Boise –– have served hordes of cross-state customers. 

“The politicians have been able to have this scenario where they say that they don’t have legal cannabis,” Steve Meland, owner of Hotbox Farms in Ontario, told NPR earlier this year. “But in all actuality we all know there’s legal cannabis in Boise.”

“There [are] over a million people within a hundred mile radius of the store,” Meland added. “Of course they are serving a broader market.”

NPR reported that Meland’s business is “a big player in an economic boom that’s happened since Ontario allowed recreational pot shops in 2018.” 

“There are now twelve dispensaries in this small farming town once mostly known for inventing the tater tot. Ontario now sells more pot per capita than anywhere else in Oregon. The industry employs about 600 people. Many get health insurance and most – like their customers – appear to be commuting over here from Idaho,” the outlet said.

According to NPR, that boom “has quickly become the latest flashpoint in a larger political and cultural battle that’s been heating up since 2020, when a group of Oregonians from the rural eastern side of the state first began circulating petitions about a proposal to secede from the largely blue state and join conservative Idaho.”

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Back in October 2020, Fleetwood Mac hit “Dreams” rose to the number one spot on iTunes because of a viral TikTok video. An Idaho Falls, Idaho resident Nathan Apodaca (username 420Doggface208) was rolling down the street on his longboard drinking Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice while singing along to the Fleetwood Mac hit song. Apodaca’s rise to fame led to responses from Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Ocean Spray CEO Tom Hayes, Cheech and Chong, and many more. Needless to say, it was a vibe during the height of the pandemic, and since then he’s had a steady stream of TikTok videos. As recently as August 2022 Apodaca debuted his acting career as Uncle Charley in the Hulu series Reservation Dogs. He was featured in a Klypso music video called “Low Rider (No Lighter)” with Snoop Dogg and War earlier this year. Ironically, it begins with Doggface smoking with Cheech and Chong, and a police officer.

Recently though, Apodaca was arrested for cannabis. There appears to be some dispute between the reasons for the arrest between the perspective of Apodaca and law enforcement.

According to local Idaho police, he was pulled over in his truck due to an expired registration sticker. TMZ broke the story, stating that the trooper allegedly smelled cannabis when he approached the vehicle. While Apodaca searched for his registration in his glove box, the police officer noticed edibles in Apodaca’s glove box, which prompted him to ask Apodaca to exit the truck.

Apodaca told the officer that there were cannabis products in his truck, including three packages of THC gummies, and a dabbing tool. The officer arrested him for possession of cannabis, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked but also released on the same day with a $600 bond.

TMZ contacted Apodaca about the incident, who shared that from his perspective, things went differently. “During the arrest, the officers failed to read me my Miranda rights. Initially, when officers found weed they said they were only going to write a ticket. They then found a gun and told me I was under arrest because I had a felony on my record and I wasn’t allowed to possess a firearm. However, I do not have a felony on my record, which I told the officers,” Apodaca told TMZ. “Despite me telling them this, I was taken into custody. I was held in jail for several hours without bond before they told me they make [sic] a huge mistake. Then was told I was only being held on the weed charge and could bond out.”

In Idaho, three ounces or less is considered to be a misdemeanor, which can net offenders up to one year in jail, and up to a $1,000 fine. A felony charge would include possession of more than three ounces but less than one pound; it could lead to up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Ideally, cannabis laws will be more forgiving in the future if medical cannabis is legalized. Advocates in Idaho are currently targeting 2024 as the year to push for medical cannabis on the ballot. Previously, Idaho has seen nearly a decade of attempts to legalize cannabis for medical use, but never quite garnered the necessary support. An organization called Kind Idaho is collecting signatures now to ensure that they have enough to qualify in 2024. “We want the opportunity for Idaho residents to succeed on their own terms. And for many of those people on their own terms, the best solution is medical marijuana,” said Kind Idaho Treasurer Joe Evans.

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A non-profit organization called Kind Idaho, which was originally founded in 2021, recently announced that it would be pushing for an initiative to legalize medical cannabis in 2024.

Kind Idaho has between now and April 2024 to collect enough signatures (at least 74,000) to qualify its Idaho Medical Marijuana Act for the ballot. According to Kind Idaho Treasurer Joe Evans, advocates are ready to make medical cannabis legalization a reality. “One of the things that we’re looking at is making sure that those are available and legal, without necessarily presenting the opportunity for abuse,” Evans told KTVB7. “So it’s a combination of education on what the potential uses are, and responsible use.”

Idaho is one of 12 states that have not yet legalized medical cannabis. Evans cites the success and safety of medical cannabis as a treatment option in comparison to opioids. “When it comes to patient advocacy seeing medical marijuana, which is a successful, nonlethal pain management program that is nearly impossible to overdose on, is one of those options that many are looking for simply because they don’t want to have to carry around the significant number of prescriptions, pain management, oxycodone, you know, opiates,” Evans said.

More importantly, Evans points out that legal access is paramount. “We want the opportunity for Idaho residents to succeed on their own terms. And for many of those people on their own terms, the best solution is medical marijuana,” Evans stated.

Starting Dec. 1, Kind Idaho will start attending events to promote education about medical cannabis, bolster a social media presence, and begin the signature collecting process. 

A recent poll from the Idaho Statesman shows that 68% of residents show support for medical cannabis legalization. However, advocates in Idaho have been attempting to make medical cannabis legalization a reality for the past 10 years without success.

The state saw its first official ballot initiative for medical cannabis in 2012, but it failed to get enough signatures to make it onto the ballot. In 2013, the Idaho legislature passed a resolution against cannabis in any form. That same year, advocates began collecting signatures for the 2014 ballot, but they were unable to collect enough signatures. New Approach Idaho collected signatures in 2015 which would have established a medical cannabis program and decriminalize small amounts, but the following year it withdrew the petition due to wording issues. Later in 2016, another ballot initiative surfaced. Even this year, a legalization effort began but was cut short due to lack of signatures.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little did sign House Bill 1265 in April 2021, which made Idaho the 50th state to legalize industrial hemp. In September 2022, the Idaho Department of Agriculture announced that hemp and CBD products are not recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and therefore not allowed to be sold legally as feed for animals. “As such, these products are not approved feed ingredients and cannot lawfully be added to or incorporated into commercial feed. This includes feeds, treats and remedies intended for pets, livestock, or any other animal,” the Idaho Department of Agriculture said. This restriction took effect on Nov. 1.

Organizations such as the National Animal Group have spoken up about the restriction, urging legislators to lift the ban. “This decision will likely harm animals whose owners will no longer be able to access the products their pets rely on for a variety of health and wellness reasons,” stated a Change.org petition. “It will also have a serious economic impact on Idaho businesses that manufacture and sell these products.”

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