Supporters of an initiated measure to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes have collected petitions with more than 17,600 signatures to get the measure on the November ballot.
The group “North Dakota Compassionate Care” has submitted the signatures to the Secretary of State’s office for review.
The group's chairman, Rilie Ray Morgan of Fargo, said if the measure is approved for the ballot, his group needs to get to work on an educational campaign.
"We've said this all along, that 30 percent of North Dakotans would be fairly positive about this," Morgan said. "30 percent would be negative. And the 40 percent in the middle would be the people we need to inform and educate."
Morgan said over the next 30 days, the steering committee will get together and come up with plans to try and convince voters of the merits of medical cannabis.
"We're not just talking about THC, which gets you high," Morgan said. "We're also talking about the CBBs, which can be used for epilepsy, pain and chronic illnesses of many types."
The initiative was launched after the 2015 Legislature rejected a medical marijuana bill.