Idaho lawmakers look to ‘go on offense’ to limit possible drug legalization initiatives
Idaho lawmakers advanced a resolution Tuesday that would ask Idahoans to approve limiting their own ability to bring forward future drug-related initiatives, like efforts to legalize cannabis.
The legislation, if passed by a majority of voters in an upcoming election, would allow only the Legislature to legalize certain drugs, including marijuana, narcotics and other psychoactive substances. Approval would amend the Idaho Constitution to reflect the new requirement.
A House committee sent the bill to the full House for a vote with a recommendation to pass it.
“There is good and evil in the world,” resolution co-sponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, told the committee. “One of the most evil things we deal with is the addiction, the sale, illegal sales, and production of drugs — illegal drugs.”
The role of drugs, and how people use them, has changed in the U.S. over the past few decades. American law and society has shifted from the war on drugs in the 1970s and 80s to movements to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms in some states in the 2020s.
Over half of Americans live in a state where they can legally use recreational marijuana, according to The Pew Research Center.
And, in 2022, the number of people who used marijuana each day passed the number who drank alcohol daily, according to The Associated Press.
The same year, a poll commissioned by the Idaho Statesman found that more than two-thirds of Idaho residents favored legalizing medical marijuana.
The medical marijuana advocacy group Kind Idaho submitted paperwork last year to place a marijuana initiative on the ballot in 2026, Forbes reported. The initiative is currently in circulation for signatures, according to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office.
Joseph Evans with Kind Idaho, who identified himself as a military veteran, told the House committee Tuesday that there is a double standard with how the state promotes alcohol. The government criminalizes and produces a stigma against some of these drugs, which he said can actually help veterans.
“We can do better. I’d like to see this continue to be accessible by the initiative process so that we can take care of our veterans,” Evans said.
States like Idaho and neighboring Oregon have in recent years grappled with the best way to deal with drugs.
Oregon tried to decriminalize hard drugs a few years ago to try to encourage people into treatment, but the plan “failed” because of its implementation, Portland’s former mayor told The New York Times.
Last year, Idaho lawmakers repealed the state’s syringe and needle exchange law after a raid on the Idaho Harm Reduction Project. The investigation is ongoing, Boise Police spokesperson Haley Williams told the Idaho Statesman Tuesday.
Idaho lawmakers also have tried in past years to limit the initiative process, including this session. Legislators have so far in 2025 introduced bills, including to allow the governor to veto successful ballot measures and to impose more stringent signature requirements.
“In the past, Republican states’ legislators have tried to keep drugs out and often they get rolled over by the initiative process,” Sen. C. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, said Tuesday. “We can go on offense.”
