FARGO, N.D. (Danielle Church) — Every Sunday, you can find members of the North Dakota Cannabis Caucus out at the several Fargo Parks cleaning up trash.
But you’ll also catch them with several petitions, pushing for a state constitutional change to legalize recreational cannabis.
“We all believe in personal freedom so we do believe that we should be able to have the choice to use cannabis or not use cannabis so long as we don’t infringe on the rights of anyone else,” said Lisa Smith, with the caucus.
That means it has to come with several regulations.
“It’s going to be 21 and over possession use, grow on private property only,” said Kim Dominiac, with the caucus.
The measure would also prohibit anyone from selling the drug unless they get a license from the state.
The North Dakota Cannabis Caucus is trying to get at least 30,000 signatures.
They need 27,000 to get on the ballot.
Members say they’re already drawing a lot of support.
“It’s a wide range. It’s universal,” Smith said.
“My personal experience has been mostly the 40 and over crowd signing my petitions,” Dominiac said.
Voters approved medical cannabis in the state back in November 2016.
You can find dispensaries in Fargo, Grand Forks, Williston and Bismarck.
Still, members of the caucus say the state needs to legalize recreational cannabis because of the benefits.
“The tax revenue funds a lot of important programs, funds education, drug treatment programs, helps get people off of opioids. We’ve seen a lot of reduction in teen use,” Smith said.
Minot Republican Sen. Davie Hogue is the primary sponsor of a bill that was proposed in 2018, which would give lawmakers the final say on successful–citizen led initiatives as opposed to voters.
It’s why Smith says the group needs to get the cannabis introduced now.
“We need to do this quick,” Smith said.
“We believe we have the support, we just need people to get out here and back us. We need people to get out here and sign these petitions and we need people to show up to vote,” Dominiac said.
If approved in the future, the measure would also prevent people from smoking cannabis in public places.