Boise, ID: Backers of a statewide ballot initiative to legalize medical cannabis access have submitted signatures to Idaho county clerks for verification.
The deadline to submit signatures was May 1st. According to a recent statement issued by the Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho campaign petitioners gathered over 150,000 signatures from registered voters ahead of the deadline.
“After a rigorous signature gathering effort that stretched to every corner of Idaho, the Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho is proud to report that more than 150,000 signatures across all 44 counties of Idaho were submitted by the May 1 deadline in the effort to qualify the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act for the November 2026 ballot,” the campaign stated.
County clerks have 60 days to verify the petitions. After the 60-day process is complete, supporters will provide their verified signatures to the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office for final approval.
Under state law, petitioners must gather 70,725 verified signatures from Idaho voters. That total must include signatures from at least six percent of voters in 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts.
The proposed ballot measure (The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act) permits qualified patients with a physician’s recommendation to obtain cannabis from state-licensed operators. According to statewide polling compiled by the campaign, over 80 percent of Idahoans support legalizing medical cannabis access.
Since 2012, advocates have sought to place a medical cannabis access measure on the state ballot, but they have never gathered a requisite number of signatures to do so.
Idaho is one of only a handful of states that makes no allowances for patients’ use of medical cannabis products. Last year, Republican Gov. Brad Little signed legislation into law imposing mandatory minimum penalties for first-time marijuana possession offenders. Lawmakers in 2025 also passed separate legislation placing a ballot question before voters that, if passed, would prohibit citizens from weighing in on “any future voter-initiated ballot questions legalizing marijuana.” Voters will decide on that ballot question this November.
In April, House and Senate lawmakers approved legislation, Senate Concurrent Resolution 127, urging voters to reject the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act.
Additional information is available from Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho and from NORML’s Election Central.