Therapeutic cannabis blazing in North Dakota

In 2016 North Dakota voters passed Measure 5 then the legislature drafted rules and a Republican governor signed it into law. Gov. Doug Burgum supports cannabis law reform and in May the red state quietly decriminalized possession of small amounts.

Today, nearly 2,000 patients have enrolled in North Dakota's therapeutic cannabis program and have eight dispensaries from which to choose but high prices continue to drive a black market.

That number could be much higher, but inflated costs resulting from high fees for dispensaries and growers and other restrictions have suppressed enrollment in the program, said Ray Morgan, a Fargo businessman who spearheaded the petition drive for a ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana approved by voters in 2016. The eight authorized dispensaries must pay two-year licensing fees to the state of $90,000, and the two authorized medical marijuana manufacturing centers must pay two-year licensing fees of $110,000. Patients pay an annual registration fee of $50. The list of 26 eligible medical conditions includes AIDS, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia, anorexia nervosa, anxiety disorder, autism spectrum disorder, brain injury, cancer, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, glaucoma and interstitial cystitis, a form of severe bladder pain. [Nearly 2,000 are registered for medical marijuana in North Dakota, but advocate calls costs 'out of this world' ]

There is concern among activists that Republican operatives will provide names of patients to the Trump Organization preventing them from purchasing firearms. North Dakota's failed poorly-written Amendment 3 that would have legalized for all adults also included language that would have forced the expungement of the records for some cannabis convictions yet in its repressive nanny state neighbor to the south if you're even suspected of ingesting cannabis members of the law enforcement industry will force a catheter into your urethra and seize your assets.

Legalize ND Chairman David Owen said the group has until July 6 to collect the 13,452 signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot after Secretary of State Al Jaeger approved the format of the petition on Monday, Dec. 16. To be on the primary ballot, the 26,904 signatures for an amendment must be into Jaeger's office for verification by Feb. 10. [Vape shops, other businesses to help gather signatures for marijuana petition]

Contaminated dietary supplements, vapes, ointments and edibles are unacceptable in a country with a long history of snake oil salesmen. Cannabis is a safe, effective palliative but black market cannabis not tested or subject to regulation makes Americans less safe. Legalization and state inspections of a product that so many people enjoy is reasonable public policy that would align with our life safety goals.

The group South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws has submitted to a Republican secretary of state over 50,000 signatures in support of a ballot measure that would allow adults 21 and older to possess and distribute up to one ounce and cultivate up to three plants for personal use. If accepted and passed the measure would also direct the South Dakota's extremist legislature to establish therapeutic and industrial cannabis (hemp) programs.