Cannabis News

Idaho Medical Marijuana Campaign Launches Signature Drive For 2026 Legalization Ballot Initiative

Published

2 days ago

October 29, 2025

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An Idaho campaign has introduced a new certified initiative to put medical marijuana legalization on the state’s 2026 ballot.

The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho (NMAI) on Wednesday announced the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act, which will give patients with qualifying conditions access to marijuana from a limited number of dispensaries and provide a regulatory framework for the market.

After Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador (R) told the secretary of state that the initiative’s short and long ballot titles provided a “truthful and unbiased” view of reform, the campaign is now allowed to circulate petitions.

“It’s about giving families and individuals options when nothing else has worked,” said Amanda Watson, NMAI communications manager, in a press release. “This initiative was created with Idaho values in mind. It would require strong oversight, measures to prevent recreational use, and most importantly, it would provide relief to thousands of Idahoans with serious illnesses. It is a compassionate and conservative approach to health care.”

Here are the main provisions Idaho Medical Cannabis Law:

Healthcare practitioners may recommend medical cannabis to patients with conditions including cancer, anxiety and acute pain.
Medical marijuana patients or designated caregivers can purchase up to 113 grams of cannabis for smoking or 20 grams of THC extract for vaporization per month.
The state would issue three vertically-integrated cannabis business licenses, and then potentially six licenses in total.
Marijuana would be reclassified under state law, Title II.
State and local law enforcement would be prohibited from assisting in drug enforcement activities related to the state’s illegal cannabis program.
There would be anti-discrimination protections for those who use or sell marijuana in compliance with state laws, preventing adverse actions by employers, landlords and educational institutions.
There does not seem to be any equity-based reform, nor will the initiative be given the opportunity to grow at home.

To get on the ballot, the campaign must collect 70,725 valid signatures, including 6 percent of registered voters in 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts. NMAI is recruiting paid applicants to carry out the plan.

In response to the new medical cannabis initiative, a separate campaign launched late last year, Kind Idaho, told supporters on Wednesday that it would cancel its signature drive. ballot initiative to legalize the personal possession and cultivation of marijuana the adults

“In the spirit of working together to ensure we have a pro-cannabis measure on the ballot in 2026, we will not be releasing the #DecriminalizeCannabisNow petition until we have collected 70,000 signatures,” Kind Idaho said via email. “We will support their signature collectors until then.”

Pleasant Idaho previously put medical marijuana ballot measures before voters Both in the 2022 and 2024 elections, but the efforts were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, next year voters will see a different type of proposal on the ballot: the constitutional amendment approved by the Legislature to make it so. only members of the legislature can legalize marijuana or other controlled substances.

—
It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25 a month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracking and become a Patreon supporter to gain access
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Lawmakers held a separate hearing to discuss it in March bill to legalize medical cannabisbut in the following months there has been no significant action on the matter.

Separately, it would be a bill from Republican Bruce Skaug (R) earlier this year set a mandatory minimum fine of $420 for possession of cannabisremoving judges’ discretion to apply lower sentences. Skaug said the bill, which ultimately stalled in committee, would send a message that Idaho is tough on marijuana.

Members of the House of Representatives were also admitted bill to ban marijuana adsalthough the Senate later defeated the measure.

Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.

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Cannabis News

Colombia legalizes sale of medical cannabis

Published

6 hours ago

October 31, 2025

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Colombia, in the midst of its war on drugs, has authorized the sale of marijuana for medicinal use, according to a decree made public by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday. The Latin American country legalized medical cannabis in 2016 and allowed the export of its dried flowers to regulated countries in 2021, but until now it could not be sold locally due to a legal loophole.

Now, the Ministries of Health, Justice and Agriculture have a period of five months to “issue the relevant regulations” to facilitate the application of the decree. Pharmacies and veterinary clinics will have to obtain a license to sell cannabis flowers containing the psychoactive ingredient THC, and consumers will have to present a medical prescription to purchase them.

The law regarding personal marijuana use in Colombia is permissive, and the authorities there allow personal consumption, cultivation and possession of small amounts of cannabis, but there is no regulated market for buying and selling it for recreational use.

Colombia’s heavy drug production has come under heavy criticism amid the country’s conflict with US President Donald Trump, who removed the South American country from a list of anti-drug allies, suspending financial aid that came with the list.

Cannabis News

Florida Marijuana Legalization Campaign Sues State Over ‘Nonsensical’ Delay In Ballot Initiative Review

Published

6 hours ago

October 31, 2025

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A Florida campaign working to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the 2026 ballot has filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court, alleging that officials are violating election laws by unjustifiably stalling the review process for the measure.

Smart & Safe Florida filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday, alleging that the secretary of state has failed to comply with the law’s mandate to “immediately send” enough signatures to the attorney general to initiate a fiscal and legal review.

With 662,543 signatures verified by the Secretary of State so far, that’s more than triple the 220,016 signatures needed to push the review forward. The campaign reached that initial threshold over the summer and notified state officialsbut he says that he has not received an answer.

“It is senseless, and contrary to specific constitutional and statutory orders, that the Secretary (of State) and the Director (of the Division of Elections) indefinitely refuse to issue the Article 15.21 letter and frustrate the constitutional order,” the filing says, referring to the notification that the Secretary of State must send to the attorney general when the signature is received.

Attorneys for the campaign also noted that Smart & Safe Florida is involved in other lawsuits state is taking ‘illegal’ steps to force nearly 200,000 voter signatures to be invalidated has presented Officials say the signatures are invalid because the petitions signed by voters do not include the full text of the initiative.

“Therefore, perhaps Respondents speculate that the Secretary’s Directive may ultimately result in the invalidation of a sufficient number of Petitions to bring the measure below the threshold for issuing Section 15.21,” the Supreme Court said. “It’s a dubious presumption at best that Smart & Safe has collected more than three times the number of valid verified applications required statewide and nearly doubled the number of congressional districts.”

“In any event, speculation about Defendants’ motive is futile here because the law is clear that Smart & Safe has the right, and Defendants have a mandatory statutory duty, to issue a Section 15.21, because the statutory requirements have been met,” it says.

“The Secretary and the Director seem to see that the regional officials are valid and behind the reported requests (and as reflected on the Division’s website). The respondents seem to be refusing Article 15.21, that the fulfillment of the Secretary’s Directive by the county officials can lead to the Request that there is no legal source of the authors.

what the case The goal is to compel the court to “force the Florida Secretary of State to follow Florida law and fulfill his mandatory statutory duty to advance the ballot initiative for Supreme Court review as required by the Florida Constitution,” Smart & Safe Florida said in a statement.

“Florida law clearly states that once a statewide ballot initiative collects more than 25 percent of the signatures, the Secretary of State must begin the Supreme Court review process and forward the language to the state Attorney General,” he said. “For reasons unknown, that has not happened, and we are asking the court to step in and compel the secretary to follow Florida’s long-standing law, as Florida Smart & Safe far exceeded that threshold last summer.”

As for the other issue regarding the state’s effort to cancel the approximately 200,000 signatures already collected, the secretariat initially Smart & Safe sent a letter of resignation to Florida in Marchadvising the campaign on the interpretation of the rules regarding the inclusion of the full text of the proposed initiative in its petitions for signatures.

This is the second vote of the campaign. They successfully got a vote on a version of the 2024 initiative, and a majority voted to pass it, but not enough to meet the state’s 60 percent threshold to pass a constitutional amendment.

In the background of this case, in August a federal judge ruled against Smart & Safe Florida—Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to provide “full relief” from provisions of a law he signed to impose other severe restrictions on signature gathering.

Although the law DeSantis signed in May was not directly aimed at the cannabis initiative, there has been concern among supporters that it could jeopardize an already complex and expensive process to gather enough signatures to put it on the ballot. That’s because it would block non-residents and non-citizens from collecting signatures for ballot measures.

In March, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate What they described as an “illegal diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds Through a group with ties to DeSantis. The money was used to fight a popular ballot initiative the governor vehemently opposed that would have legalized adult marijuana.

The lawmakers’ letter alleges that a $10 million donation from a state legislative settlement was misappropriated to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, and sent $8.5 million to the anti-Amendment 3 campaign.

The governor said this in February The latest measure to legalize marijuana is in “big trouble” with the state Supreme CourtHe announced that it will be blocked from going before the voters next year.

“There are a lot of different views on marijuana,” DeSantis said. “It shouldn’t be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have a legislative election. Bring back the candidates you think will be able to deliver what you think about it.”

“But when you put these things in the Constitution, and I think, I mean, the way they were written, there’s all kinds of things going on here. I think it’s going to have a lot of trouble getting passed by the Florida Supreme Court,” he said.

the last the initiative It was introduced to the secretary of state just months after initial versions failed in the November 2024 election, despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

The revised version of Smart & Safe Florida is expected to be successful in 2026. The campaign — which received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry players in the last election cycle, notably from multi-state operator Trulieve — introduced some changes in the new version that address criticisms of opponents of the 2024 push.

For example, it now specifically states that “smoking and vaping marijuana in any public place is prohibited.” Another section states that the legislature should adopt rules governing the “time, place and public manner of consuming marijuana.”

—
It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters By pledging at least $25 per month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts and audio calendars so you never miss a development.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracking and become a Patreon supporter to gain access
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Last year, the governor accurately predicted this The campaign’s 2024 cannabis measure would survive a legal challenge From the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he thinks this version will face a different outcome.

Although there is uncertainty about how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released in February It showed the overwhelming support of a bipartisan voter for reform— 67% of Florida voters support legalization, including 82% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 55% of Republicans.

However, the results echo another recent poll by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a proactive opponent of legalization, which found a majority in favor of reform among likely voters (53 percent). but not enough to be able to set the 60 percent condition.

Another poll of Republican voters in Florida showed only 40 percent of that demographic said they would vote for it of the legalization proposal.

Also, a GOP senator from Florida recently claimed this the legalization campaign “tricked” Trump into supporting the 2024 measure misleading him and the general public about key provisions.

Before the election, Trump said he was sorry last September The 3rd Amendment “would have been great” for the state.

Before commenting, Trump met with Truliev CEO Kim Riverseven with a GOP state senator who favors reform.

Meanwhile, there are medical marijuana officials in Florida actively expunging the records of patients and caregivers with drug-related criminal records. The policy is part of the sweeping budget legislation that DeSantis signed into law earlier this year. The aforementioned provisions address the State Department of Health (DOH). void the records of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if convicted of drug offenses, or pleaded guilty or no contest.

Photo elements courtesy of the user rawpixel and Philip Steffan.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with the help of readers. If you rely on our pro-cannabis journalism to stay informed, consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Cannabis News

IM Cannabis CFO steps down

Published

1 day ago

October 30, 2025

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IM Cannabis has announced that Uri Birenberg, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, will be stepping down for personal reasons. Mr. Birenberg is expected to continue as Chief Financial Officer until January 5, 2026, or an earlier date to be determined by the Company, and will assist in a structured transition process until a successor is named.

Oren Shuster, CEO of IMC, said: “On behalf of our entire team, I want to thank Ur for his commitment and contribution to IMC. Over the past two years, he has been a valued member of our leadership team. We wish him every success in his next chapter.”

“It has been a great pleasure to serve as the Company’s Finance Director for the last two years,” said Uri Birenberg. “I have the utmost confidence in the Company and appreciate the opportunity to work with one of the most dedicated teams in the cannabis industry.”

For more information:
IM Cannabis Corp.
www.imcannabis.com