ND Legalization Init Hands in Signatures, No More Sales Tax for NJ Patients, More... (7/8/22)

Signatures are handed in for a marijuana legalization initaitive in North Dakota and a medical marijuana initiative in Nebraska, and more.

A Nebraska medical marijuana initaitive campaign faces nail-biting time after handing in signatures with very little cushion.

North Dakota Marijuana Legalization Initiative Campaign Says It Has Sufficient Signatures, Will Hand Them in Monday. David Owen, the chairman of Legalize ND, the group trying to qualify a marijuana legalization initiative for the November ballot, said Thursday that the group has gathered at least 21,400 raw voter signatures and will probably add more before turning them in on Monday, the deadline for turning in signatures. The initiative needs 15,582 valid voter signatures to qualify, leaving a fairly comfortable cushion to make the ballot even if some signatures are invalidated.

Ohio Senate President Rejects Marijuana Legalization, Clearing Way for Signature Drive to Put Issue Before Voters. Although the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol handed in enough signatures to compel the legislature to consider a recreational marijuana legalization bill they proposed, State Senate President Matt Huffman (R) has made it clear that the legislature would not approve it. Under state law, if the legislature rejects or fails to approve the measure, it would go to voters, provided the coalition successfully completes another signature drive. "I don't want anybody to misunderstand my position," Huffman said. "I'm not going to bring it to the Senate floor. And if that means people want to go put it on the ballot, have at it." Because of signature-gathering deadlines, it is too late to qualify for this year's ballot, and the campaign is now aiming at 2023.

Medical Marijuana

New Jersey Ends Sales Tax on Medical Marijuana Products. Beginning July 1, medical marijuana patients no longer have to pay a state sales tax on their purchases. New Jersey had been one of the few states that imposed the sales tax on medical marijuana but passed legislation in 2019 to begin phasing it out. Now it is gone. "Removing state sales tax on medicinal cannabis is consistent with Governor Murphy and the legislature’s intent to prioritize patients and improve affordability," said Jeff Brown, Executive Director of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. "As the sales tax has been phased out… patients have been able to spend less on their medicine, further ensuring patients are prioritized over recreational consumers."

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative Campaign Turns in Signatures. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana has handed in some 90,000 raw signatures to try to put its a pair of linked medical marijuana initiatives on the November ballot. It needs roughly 87,000 valid voter signatures to qualify, leaving the campaign with a very slim buffer to account for any invalidated signatures. But after a court ruling this week, the campaign may need to have the support of five percent of voters in 38 of the state's 93 counties. That issue is currently being litigated, but as things stand, that requirement is still in effect.