The legalization of cannabis for adults in North Dakota will have to wait.   Measure 2, which would have legalized the possession and retail sale of marijuana lost by nearly ten percentage points in Tuesday's ballot.

"It’s unfortunate that North Dakotans will not have access to recreational cannabis for a little while longer. However, the success that New Approach North Dakota had in collecting signatures shows that there is significant support for recreational cannabis in the state. We look forward to a day when the shadow of the War on Drugs lifts over North Dakota," said Travis Copenhaver, a partner at leading cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg LLP. 

Background

In 2018, North Dakota voters declined to legalize recreational cannabis. "It was too soon after the medical marijuana measure, so the population really is still unfamiliar with cannabis legalization in any form (...) give it a couple of years when the people there see how medical marijuana works under a regulated market and they'll probably be OK voting in recreational marijuana," said Chris Walsh, founding editor and vice president of MJBizDaily.

David Owen, a cannabis advocate, and campaign manager for the legalization of cannabis in the state said: “We currently have a system where people are unable to find a job because of a criminal record, we have a system where people are continuing to get marijuana charges and lose their housing, we have families being separated because of parents losing custody over their children for marijuana charges. That all stops when this is legalized.”

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