Idahoans might no longer be able to legalize marijuana – or any other drug – through a ballot initiative under a proposed constitutional amendment heading to the House floor.
Rep. Bruce Skaug’s (R-Nampa) proposal would require approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate to legalize any drug.
“It’s not going to stop all drugs from coming in by keeping them illegal,” said Skaug. “Our drug laws don’t keep addictions from happening, but it’s a lot better than legalizing them.”
Skaug said the state needs to uphold its tough penalties for drug crimes, which he believes acts as a deterrent .
“Idaho has remained an island of sanity in a churning sea of great insanity around us in this nation where other drugs have been legalized,” he said, specifically calling out neighboring Oregon.
Skaug and other GOP legislators have long been worried out-of-state groups would legalize marijuana through a ballot initiative. That would be impossible under his proposed amendment.
Recent efforts to get such an issue on the ballot in Idaho have failed.
Kind Idaho Medical Marijuana Consortium, which ran a ballot initiative this most recent election cycle to legalize medical marijuana, raised $4,146 in 2023 and no money in 2024.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Todd Achilles (D-Boise) said a two-thirds majority is too high of a bar to clear. And he said the measure would hurt those being treated for PTSD.
“I think this will have a negative impact on medically proven techniques to treat veterans,” Achilles said.
Constitutional amendments like Skaug’s also need two-thirds approval from the House and Senate this session before it could go before voters in 2026.
A similar measure in 2021 passed the Senate, but failed to get out of a House committee.
Copyright 2025 Boise State Public Radio
