Medical Cannabis Backers Say Signature Gathering Problems Sank Idaho Ballot Initiative

Yesterday the Secretary of State's office issued its final determination that the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act will not appear on the November 2026 ballot. We share the disappointment of the many thousands of Idahoans who worked for, signed and believed in this effort. They deserve to know exactly why we fell short.

Organizers of this effort are friends and family members of a beloved philanthropist, pediatrician, and long-time Idaho resident who lost her life to brain cancer in 2024. She did not have alternatives to opioids for her treatment and, while recovering from an operation outside of Idaho, was recommended cannabis. It brought relief to her nausea and allowed her to sleep for the first time in weeks. That kickstarted her personal (and later her family’s) dream to bring this medicine to Idahoans who could use it in their hardest trials in a dignified, legal way. The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho was created because we believe patients with serious and painful conditions deserve an alternative to prescription opioids. Polling shows 83% of likely Idaho voters agree. Because the people behind NMAI are not campaigners or experienced in petition drives, we hired a professional signature gathering firm to do what we could not do ourselves and trusted it to do the job lawfully and completely.

NMAI organizers oversaw this effort actively and in good faith. As the campaign progressed, we saw signs that our original signature gathering vendor's operation was disorganized, but when concerns were raised we were assured that legal requirements, including requirements related to reporting and residency, were being followed and signatures were on pace to surpass the threshold. It appears that our confidence was misplaced. The Secretary of State's letter describes missed deadlines, circulator documentation and payment disclosures, and petition materials prepared incorrectly or submitted late. We take every claim in that letter seriously and no one wants answers more than we do. We believe every statement made in the letter originated with our initial vendor. None of our concerns extend to the second firm we brought in late in the drive, whose work was professional throughout. NMAI has zero tolerance for signature fraud or prohibited conduct and will cooperate fully with any review.

All of this said, we are still shocked that the initiative did not qualify for the ballot. NMAI was intentional about bringing in reinforcements in the final weeks of the effort, which resulted in submission of approximately double the required signatures to qualify and submissions in all 44 Idaho counties. These are real Idahoans, all across the state, who expressly asked for the opportunity to vote on this issue. Our third party validation prior to submission indicated significantly higher validity than was returned, and we will be reviewing the findings county by county. 

For all the heartbreak, this effort is also a demonstration of what makes Idaho's system work. The citizen initiative exists so ordinary people can bring lawmaking directly to their neighbors, and tens of thousands of Idahoans engaged in exactly that. We also believe in the rigor Idaho law demands of this process. Those safeguards exist so Idahoans can trust that every measure reaching the ballot belongs there, and our commitment to that principle has not wavered. To everyone who signed, volunteered, donated, and shared their stories with us, thank you. You did everything right. We are examining every legal and procedural remedy available, and whatever comes next, the need remains. The demand Idahoans expressed through this campaign is not going away. Idahoans deserve the right to make their own healthcare decisions and a government that trusts them to do so.