Idaho voters will not get to choose this year if they want to make medical cannabis legal across the state. The Secretary of State’s Office said Tuesday that an initiative that would have put the question before voters did not garner enough signatures to make it on the November ballot. To make the ballot, initiatives must get signatures from 6% of registered voters, which is over 70,000, and ...

An employee harvests cannabis in a greenhouse at the production site of the German pharmaceutical company Demecan for medical cannabis in Ebersbach near Dresden, Germany, on Nov. 28, 2022.

JENS SCHLUETER/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE/TNS

Idaho voters will not get to choose this year if they want to make medical cannabis legal across the state.

The Secretary of State’s Office said Tuesday that an initiative that would have put the question before voters did not garner enough signatures to make it on the November ballot. To make the ballot, initiatives must get signatures from 6% of registered voters, which is over 70,000, and they must include at least 6% of voters in 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts.

In a news release, the Secretary of State’s Office said the initiative did not qualify for the ballot after “failing to submit the required number of valid petition signatures, both in total number of signatures and required legislative districts.”

The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act initiative, which was spearheaded by the Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho, would have allowed people with certain health conditions to get access to medical cannabis treatment. Recreational and medicinal marijuana use are illegal in Idaho.

On its website, the Natural Medicine Alliance said the goal of the act was to allow people to use natural medicine to ease some of their pain. Under the act, people could have applied for a medical cannabis card with proof from a licensed medical professional of a diagnosed health condition, such as cancer, PTSD, epilepsy or chronic pain. The group pointed to the number of opioid prescriptions written each year, and said patients with “serious illnesses are still denied access to safe, natural, and non-addictive medical treatments to ease their pain.”

Voters will decide on another cannabis question

Idaho lawmakers have long been outspoken about their opposition to the legalization of marijuana, even as most of Idaho’s neighboring states have legalized it to some extent.

Although voters won’t see a ballot question about legalizing medical cannabis, they will vote on another cannabis question. Idaho lawmakers passed a joint resolution last year to put a constitutional amendment before voters, asking them to allow only the Legislature, not the voters, the power to legalize marijuana, narcotics and other psychoactive drugs.

This year, lawmakers passed a resolution that criticized the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act, saying it would cost the state money, was overly broad and lacked safeguards. It also alleged without offering evidence that legalization in other states has led to “increased cartel activity” and serious health conditions. The resolution encouraged people to reject attempts to get the cannabis initiative on the ballot.

In recent years, lawmakers have sought harsher punishments relating to marijuana. A 2025 law put into place a minimum fine for anyone charged with possession of marijuana.