In a unanimous decision, the Idaho Supreme Court has declared that SB 1110, the bill that increased initiative signature collection thresholds from 6% of 18 legislative districts to 6% of all 35 districts, is an unconstitutional abridgment of petitioning rights, voiding the law.
This means that PAMDA, our Personal Adult Marijuana Decriminalization Act, is subject to the original 18-district rule that the currently circulating IMMA, or Idaho Medical Marijuana Act.
While we launched our signature gathering last weekend at the Boise Hempfest, we were awaiting the decision to determine whether we would continue with PAMDA. Had the court ruled against us, we likely would have dropped the PAMDA initiative so we could focus all our efforts on the IMMA. Trying to qualify a 35-district initiative and an 18-district initiative made no sense.
But with this decision, not only are PAMDA and IMMA subject to the same 18-district requirement, should they fail this time, they can be revived again under the 18-district requirement. There is not the same pressure now to concentrate solely on IMMA.
The court also invalidated a new law sneaked in by the legislature that delays until July 1 of the next year the implementation of any initiative that passes in an election year. This was meant to give the legislature time in the session following a successful initiative to gut or completely repeal that initiative.
With this decision, PAMDA and/or IMMA would go into effect immediately upon passage, forcing the legislature into the unenviable position of taking away rights that Idahoans have already secured.
We will be organizing our volunteer teams for PAMDA shortly. We’ll need your help to collect the roughly 65,000 signatures from 18 of 35 legislative districts.
Please let me know where petitions are so I can sign. I live in the Nampa area down town. Idaho really needs to get medical to pass. There are some many suffering unnecessarily and you have doctors who wanna push their narcotics down your throat. I prefer 1 it be natural 2 it’s something that truly helps people in so many different ways. So if you could let me know I’ll make sure I get it signed. And thank you all for what your doing, it’s much appreciated.
Thanks for writing, Steve. You can find our volunteer Jackie at the Nampa Farmer’s Market most Saturdays. She will have both the IMMA medical petition and the PAMDA decrim petition for you to sign there.
Is in person the only way to sign? I’m in very rural southern Idaho.
Yes, the State of Idaho does not allow electronic signatures. But you can download your own copy of the petition, sign it, notarize it, and mail it to us, and we’ll make sure your signature counts. Just go to https://idahoway.org/sign.
Is there a location in North Idaho (CDA/Hayden) where I can sign and direct people to go?
We don’t really have “locations,” as that requires a lot of volunteers and exposure to COVID. This is primarily a mail-in campaign. Go to https://idahoway.org/sign to print and sign your own copy.