Joanna Orban

Copy Editor 

Although all of Idaho’s border states, except Wyoming, currently allow marijuana in some capacity, Idaho’s legislature is looking to implement a new amendment to the constitution. Senate Joint Resolution 101: Psychoactive Drugs (SJR 101) seeks to reinforce Idaho’s current stance on marijuana.

According to the Idaho Statesman, “The new section of the constitution would ban “the production, manufacture, transportation, sale, delivery, dispensing distribution, possession or use of a psychoactive drug”. This amendment may seem a bit redundant as marijuana is already illegal in Idaho. This new amendment to the state constitution seeks to make it harder to legalize marijuana by making it an integral part of Idaho’s constitution.

Idaho’s Senate passed the resolution in a 24-11 vote last week. If Idaho’s House of Representatives passes the bill with a ⅔ majority, Idaho residents will vote on this new amendment in the general election of 2022. As of right now, Idaho is one of only six states across the country where marijuana is completely illegal, both medically and recreationally. Some traditionally conservative states like Utah, allow for medical marijuana.

According to Senator Van Burtenshaw (R), as quoted by the Idaho Statesman, “Senators, I beg of you, we have to keep this state clean. The future of Idaho is on our shoulders. We need to step up and do the right thing.”

This measure is under fire given the proven research on how marijuana can be medically helpful. This bill would also inhibit the legalization of medical marijuana.

According to Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett (D) as quoted by the Idaho Statesman, “The measure would not only ban medical marijuana but prevent Idaho residents from benefiting from medical breakthroughs due to the requirement that the FDA would need to approve the drug to be used. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved straight cannabis as a medical treatment. It states on its website, “To date, FDA has not approved a marketing application for cannabis for the treatment of any disease or condition and thus has not determined that cannabis is safe and effective for any particular disease or condition.

The agency has, however, approved one cannabis-derived and three cannabis-related drug products. As Stennett’s quote illustrates, if the amendment is passed, Idaho residents would not be able to utilize medical marijuana, unless the product is approved by the FDA.

Regardless of whether or not this amendment is passed, marijuana is still illegal in the state of Idaho. According to idaho.gov, “Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under Idaho Law. It is illegal for any person to manufacture, deliver, possess with intent to manufacture or deliver, or possess marijuana, which refers to all parts of the plants of the genus cannabis, including or any preparation of cannabis which contains tetrahydrocannabinol.”

While the bill and much of its surrounding debate was in regards to marijuana and its many derivatives, ‘psychoactive drugs’ is a wide term that can apply to substances that go beyond marijuana. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Psychoactive drugs have different degrees of restriction of availability, depending on their risks to health and therapeutic usefulness, and classified according to a hierarchy of schedules at both national and international levels.”

According to Ballotpedia.org, the bill does provide some additional information on what requirements psychoactive drugs would have to meet in order not to be banned. They are:

• Allowed under the Idaho Uniform Controlled Substances Act and approved by the Food and Drug Administration
• Part of a clinical investigation approved by the Food and Drug Administration
• Allowed under Idaho’s Right to Try Act or
• Documented and held for the purposes of a law enforcement investigation or regulated testing laboratory

Full explanation of the bill can be found here: legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/billbookmark/?yr=2021&bn=SJR101