BOISE, Idaho — Idaho voters will decide in November whether to give the state Legislature exclusive authority over any legalization of marijuana, narcotics and other psychoactive substances, removing that power from the citizen initiative process.
House Joint Resolution 4 would amend the Idaho Constitution. A “yes” vote would prevent citizens from using petitions to place measures legalizing those substances on future ballots. A “no” vote would leave the current initiative process in place.
Idaho News 6 showed the ballot language to people in downtown Boise and asked whether they found it clear and whether they supported the proposed change.
WATCH | What Idaho voters think about HJR 4 and its ballot language:
“I don’t think ‘yes’ is necessarily confusing. I mean, it seems pretty clear,” one voter said.
However, she did not support limiting the initiative process.
“I would probably vote for the citizens,” she added.
Jordan McCormick had a similar position but a different reaction to the language.
“I think the language is confusing,” McCormick said. “People are a proper representation of what people think. So, yeah, it should be up to people.”
Another voter, Eliana, also described the language as confusing and said she would prefer to leave the decision with voters.
“I do think that it should be up to the people, for sure,” she said.
August Seymour came to a different conclusion. He said placing the authority with the legislature could provide more oversight.
“I feel like definitely it should be held to a higher power,” Seymour said. “Therefore, it can be more moderated, so that it’s not just anybody making that decision.”
Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, helped lead HJR 4 through the Idaho House. He said he generally supports the initiative process but believes drug policy should be treated differently.
Skaug argued that large financial interests can influence signature-gathering campaigns, pointing to the recent effort to place medical marijuana legalization on Idaho’s ballot.
“Here, the big drug money comes in — those who are likely to make a lot of money,” Skaug said. “We saw that in the attempt to get marijuana on the ballot. So we want to keep the big money out.”
The proposed Idaho Medical Cannabis Act failed to qualify for the November ballot after falling short of the required number of valid signatures statewide and across the required legislative districts, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.
Skaug also pointed to communities in states that have relaxed their drug laws, arguing Idaho should not follow the same path.
“Look at the cities I mentioned – Portland,” Skaug said. “The damage is done very quickly once illegal drugs are legalized. It destroys lives, destroys families.”
