BISMARCK -- Supporters of legalizing medical marijuana in North Dakota turned in a proposed initiative Tuesday to put the issue on the November ballot. With voters' approval, the initiative would allow someone who suffers from a debilitating illness to use marijuana with a doctor's permission. It lists cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, glaucoma and other illnesses as examples of debilitating conditions. The chairman of the initiative effort, state Rep. Steve Zaiser, D-Fargo, said he believed people with chronic pain would qualify. [continues 331 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. -- State rules for growing industrial hemp are close to taking effect, although federal drug agents will have the final say on whether farmers may cultivate it, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued a letter Wednesday saying the proposed rules comply with state law. A legislative committee that reviews North Dakota agency regulations still must go over them before they take effect, Johnson said. Industrial hemp is a relative of marijuana, but does not have the hallucinogenic chemical that provides a "high" when the leaf is smoked. It is used to produce an assortment of goods, including paper, rope, clothing and cosmetics. [continues 229 words]
State rules for growing industrial hemp are close to taking effect, although federal drug agents will have the final say on whether farmers may cultivate it, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued a letter Wednesday saying the proposed rules comply with state law. A legislative committee that reviews North Dakota agency regulations still must go over them before they take effect, Johnson said. Industrial hemp is a relative of marijuana, but does not have the hallucinogenic chemical that provides a "high" when the leaf is smoked. It is used to produce an assortment of goods, including paper, rope, clothing and cosmetics. [continues 228 words]
North Dakota's Supreme Court has reinstated a law that requires methamphetamine defendants to assent to random drug testing, at their own expense, if they're freed on bail. A Fargo judge had declared the provision unconstitutional. East Central District Judge Steven McCullough used a procedure that was "not conducive to reasoned decision-making" in ruling the law should not be enforced, the state Supreme Court justices said in a unanimous opinion. "Our jurisprudence for deciding constitutional issues requires an orderly process for the development of constitutional claims, which . was not followed in this case," Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle wrote in the court's decision Thursday. [continues 215 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. - Authorities who stopped a man's car twice in less than an hour to check its illegally tinted windows were justified in searching it for marijuana, a divided North Dakota Supreme Court concluded. The court's five justices split 3-2 in their ruling Tuesday, with Justice Mary Muehlen Maring and Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle arguing that police conduct in the case "bordered on harassment." The decision upholds Brent Bartelson's guilty plea to a felony charge of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. [continues 504 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. - Requiring North Dakotans to show identification to buy cold pills has throttled the growth of illegal methamphetamine labs, which need the pills to make the illegal drug, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said. "This is the first truly good news on the meth-lab front that we've seen since the epidemic first started in North Dakota eight years ago," Stenehjem said Thursday. In recent years, the Legislature has imposed a number of restrictions on buying cold remedies that contain pseudoephedrine, a compound that is distilled to make methamphetamine. Meth is a toxic, highly addictive stimulant. [continues 313 words]
