(North Dakota Monitor) -The leader of an effort to legalize marijuana in North Dakota says the proposal would free up law enforcement resources to focus on more serious drugs. But law enforcement officials interviewed by the North Dakota Monitor have mixed reactions.
Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben said he’s heard from officers in states that have legalized recreational marijuana that it leads to more work for law enforcement.
“I think what we have to remember is people aren’t going to jail for minor marijuana convictions,” Leben said. “Those days are over, and by the time somebody ends up in jail on a minor drug charge like that, there’s extensive other criminal activity in the background there.”
Stark County Sheriff Corey Lee, meanwhile, is in favor of the proposed ballot measure, which is still under review by the Secretary of State’s Office.
“It is such a prevalent item in today’s society and, obviously, we’re right next door to Montana,” Lee said.
Recreational marijuana has been legal in Montana since 2022. It’s also legal in Minnesota and will be on the ballot in South Dakota in November.
The North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association, which opposed the previous recreational marijuana measure in 2022, has not yet taken a position on the new proposal, said Donnell Preskey, executive director.
The Chiefs of Police Association of North Dakota also opposed the recreational cannabis ballot measure in 2022 but has yet to take a position on the new measure, said Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler, association president.
Steve Bakken, chair of the sponsoring committee, has said he got to see up close how police departments and the judicial system deal with marijuana crimes during his time as Bismarck mayor.
“A minor marijuana offense is not where we should be putting resources,” Bakken told the North Dakota Monitor. “Go after opioids. Go after fentanyl, the things that kill people.”
More than 2,300 criminal cases filed in 2023 involved only marijuana charges, according to data from the North Dakota Judicial Branch IT Department. So far in 2024, about 1,350 criminal cases involve solely marijuana, the department said.
The ballot petition, which is undergoing signature verification by the Secretary of State’s Office, seeks to make recreational marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. The office has until Aug. 12 to verify signatures. If approved for the ballot, people will be able to vote for a third time since 2018 on the future of recreational cannabis.
Lee said many of the state’s attorneys in southwest North Dakota have not been prosecuting marijuana offenses. He said he thinks the measure should pass this time because people can already take a quick trip across the border to purchase it.
“I know a lot of people disagree with that, primarily because of what happened in Colorado,” he said. “I don’t think that’s fair…. When it first made marijuana recreational, of course people flocked there in huge numbers, but you are not going to see that here.”
Lee also said the measure would take power away from black market drug dealers by giving consumers an official option that would benefit the state through tax revenue.
“Also, it can be written and regulated how, where and when it’s used, so I think we’ve learned a lot from the states that have had it for years now and I think we can make this transition fairly smoothly,” Lee said.
Ziegler, speaking for himself and not the city of Mandan or the Chiefs of Police Association, is opposed to the measure. He believes marijuana to be an addictive drug and a gateway to other substances.
When asked if he was worried the state might become an island surrounded by Canada and other states that allow recreational marijuana, Ziegler said, “Sometimes being on an island is not a bad thing.”
Leben said criminals would not be put out of business because of marijuana legalization.
“No matter what you have, you can have a criminal nexus to it and that’s never going to go away,” Leben said. “The cartels aren’t going out of business. They are going to change like a regular business does.”
Leben also said he worries about the “creep” of cannabis-use normalization, in which, even though the measure restricts marijuana use to private property, it becomes more prevalent in public.
“Every state you go to that has legalized it, it happens in public because eventually it just becomes commonplace,” he said.
The North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association has sent the ballot measure to sheriff’s departments across the state for their review, Preskey said. The Chiefs of Police Association will meet with its attorney and discuss it among executive committee members before bringing it to the entire group, Ziegler said.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley declined to comment for this story, but said in an email he may make comments on recreational cannabis at a later date.
Other groups that have opposed recreational marijuana in the past are the Greater North Dakota Chamber and the North Dakota Motor Carriers Association.
The Greater North Dakota Chamber is expected to discuss the issue with its membership during its August meeting, said Amanda Remynse, vice president of operations and outreach.
“We’re member-driven, so our members decide if we take a stance,” Remynse said. “We’ve come out against the past two, but that doesn’t mean that they look the same.”
The North Dakota Motor Carriers Association, which represents more than 250 members of the commercial trucking industry, said in an emailed statement the association does not support the use of marijuana due to safety concerns on the state’s roadways.
“Impairment of any kind, whether due to alcohol, prescription medications, or other substances, poses a significant risk,” the association said in a statement. “Ensuring that our drivers are not under the influence of impairing substances is paramount to maintaining road safety.”
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