By Kate Quiñones

The bishops of North Dakota condemned a state ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in a Tuesday statement, citing Church teaching on the harms of drug use as well as its negative physical and societal effects. 

Measure 5, if approved, would allow adults 21 and over to grow, sell, and use marijuana for recreational purposes. A similar ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana was rejected by North Dakota voters in 2018 and 2022.

“We believe individuals, families, and communities will be significantly harmed if recreational marijuana is legalized in our state,” the bishops wrote in the Sept. 10 statement. “We therefore strongly encourage Catholics and all other people of goodwill in North Dakota to vote ‘NO’ on Measure 5.”

Though cannabis is illegal on the federal level, recreational use of it is currently legal in 24 states and is on the ballot in three states: North Dakota, South Dakota, and Florida. 

The bishops noted that the substance can have harmful physical effects. 

“Marijuana is not the harmless drug that some imagine it to be,” they wrote. “Rather, there is ample evidence that regular marijuana use impairs brain functioning, stunts brain development, damages the lungs, and is linked to a lowered immune system.”

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