Recreational marijuana backers can gather signatures for North Dakota ballot initiative

A North Dakota ballot initiative group can gather signatures to put a proposal legalizing recreational marijuana to a statewide vote in the fall, the state’s top election official said Thursday, in the latest legalization effort in the conservative state.

The New Economic Frontier needs to submit 15,582 valid signatures to Secretary of State Michael Howe by July 8 to make the November general election ballot. Otherwise, the group has one year to gather enough signatures to make the next statewide election.

The 20-page statutory measure would legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and older to use at their homes and, if permitted, on others’ private property. The measure also outlines numerous production and processing regulations, prohibited uses — such as in public or in vehicles — and home cultivation of plants.

Leading the initiative is Steve Bakken, a Burleigh County commissioner and former Bismarck mayor who said he has never smoked marijuana and never will. He said law enforcement resources “should be directed someplace a little more effectual,” such as combating fentanyl and other illicit drugs. He said the group also wants to head off the potential of a poorly crafted initiative.