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.

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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.

Dutch photographer Kadir van Lohuizen has captured the stories of people who were exposed to pesticides and then developed Parkinson’s disease. The Dutch newspaper Trouw highlighted his work this week. On Wednesday, October 15, the traveling exhibition “The Hidden Impact of Pesticides” was inaugurated at the Wageningen Campus.

Van Lohuizen, best known for his first photo series portraying the global horticulture industry, photographed nine people who lost their lives due to pesticide exposure. The project was commissioned by the unions ParkinsonNL, Parkinson Vereniging, Natuur & Milieu and FNV. The exhibition will be on view in Wageningen until the end of November and will then tour the Netherlands for the next two years.

In Trost, the threat parties have their star: Nico Dirk-swager (78), Jacqueline Assume (61) and Marcel Kovonhoven (62).

Nico remembers picking tomatoes as a teenager, as did four of his five friends—four of whom have also developed Parkinson’s in recent years. “We all came from different backgrounds and went on to do completely different jobs. But as teenagers, the five of us spent the summer picking tomatoes in the local greenhouses to make a Tomos or Puch moped.”

Jacqueline grew up as the daughter of a flower bulb grower and remembers being around crop protection products from an early age. “I was the unlucky one in the family, the only one to develop Parkinson’s,” he says.

Marcel, who worked in the flower shop, also fell ill. “I joined this project to raise awareness among florists. Know what is going through your hands. A single flower on the table will not make you sick, but we are constantly exposed to an accumulation of pesticides. Wear latex gloves, wash your hands often. I do not blame the producers, they follow the law, but I think what is important in these products.”

The exhibit sheds light on the often unseen human consequences of pesticide use in agriculture, and aims to spark a broader conversation about safety, awareness and responsibility in the horticultural chain.

the source: Trouw (€)

As Nebraska officials face criticism for their attempts to significantly scale back a voter-approved medical marijuana law, an American Indian tribe in the state has approved its first license for a vertically integrated cannabis operation since it approved legalization within its borders earlier this year.

In his first meeting on Monday, Cannabis Regulatory Commission of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska They discussed proposed rules to support the tribal marijuana market. They also agreed to license the tribe itself to move forward with the next steps in getting the industry up and running.

Draft rules were not adopted at the meeting, but the tribe’s attorney general, John Cartier, said that over time the territory would “be the direct contrast to that dysfunction and show that it is respecting the will of the voters, at least on the Omaha reservation.”

“We are ready to move forward to provide access to people who need help through medical cannabis,” he said.

Under the legalization code the tribe adopted in July — the first such reform in a state where lawmakers have long resisted policy change — adults 21 and older can buy and possess an ounce of cannabis if they’re on tribal land.

Arthur Isagholian, a member of the cannabis commission, warned at the meeting: “If you violate the rules off tribal land and you’re caught with the product you bought on tribal land, you’re on your own,” according to NTV. notify.

Although the tribe adopted a vertically integrated license for its own purposes, to help facilitate the implementation of legalization in the territory, it is unclear when the regulatory rules will go up for a vote and open the possibility of legal sales.

The tribe’s license “will, of course, be subject to our published rules and regulations, but to allow the tribe to be able to begin working on agreements, equity and financing while we’re fleshing this out,” one member said.

The committee will meet once a month, and at least some of the proposed regulations will be approved when the members meet again in November.

In a press release before Monday’s meeting, the tribe’s attorney general had some choice words for state officials.

“As the Nebraska process moves from delay to debate, we’re doing the one thing patients and businesses need: governing,” Cartier said. “On October 27, we’ll give Nebraska the green light: clear rules, real oversight and a workable, well-regulated industry rooted in sovereignty, safety and common sense.”

“We want to be a direct contrast to that dysfunction (at the state level) and show that the will of the voters is being respected, at least on the Omaha reservation, and we’re ready to move forward to provide access to people who need help through medical cannabis,” he said. he said.

He is not alone in criticism. Advocates have pushed back hard against the state after a panel appointed by the governor has presented proposed rules for the cannabis marketincluding purchase restrictions.

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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.

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States again approved the first cannabis business license for a growerthere is still no legal way for patients to access the products.

Meanwhile, last month, activists in Nebraska have presented an initiative to legalize marijuana and establish a constitutional right to use cannabis For adults over 21 years old. If organizers collect enough valid signatures from registered voters, it could appear on the 2026 ballot.

The push for marijuana reform also comes as the state’s attorney general Reducing the sale of intoxicating products derived from hempincluding those with delta-8 THC.

Last year’s passage of two medical marijuana ballot measures came after an earlier attempt in 2020 gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot, but it fizzled. The measure was overturned by the State Supreme Court following a single theme challenge. Followers then they ran out of signatures for the revised demands In 2022, funding was largely lost after one of their major donors died in a plane crash.

Photo by California State Fair.