An Idaho lawmaker who voted in favor of a resolution on March 5 to strip voters’ powers to legalize cannabis via the initiative process now wants to do it himself.
State Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, introduced bipartisan legislation on March 12, House Bill 401, to legalize medical cannabis in the Gem State. He’s sponsoring the bipartisan legislation, the Sgt. Kitzhaber Medical Cannabis Act, alongside Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise.
The bill aims to allow qualified patients 21 years and older to obtain medical cannabis from licensed medical cannabis pharmacies and possess up to 60 grams (roughly 2 ounces) of cannabis flower capped at 22% THC or 4,000 milligrams of THC in processed products by Jan. 1, 2026. The bill would make an exception to allow for up to 20,000 milligrams of THC for terminally ill, hospice or cancer patients.
H.B. 401 would also reschedule THC, or its synthetic equivalents, from Schedule I to a Schedule II controlled substance under the Idaho code. In addition, it would legalize the transportation of medical cannabis.
More specifically, a fiscal note attached to the bill states, “No growing, selling or production of cannabis in Idaho would be permitted under this legislation.”
According to the bill’s language, Idaho’s Board of Pharmacy would be required to establish rules “for the importation of cannabis, cannabis products, and medical cannabis devices into this state,” which directly collides with federal law banning the interstate commerce of cannabis—medical or not.
The bill’s introduction came one week after House lawmakers voted, 58-10, to pass House Joint Resolution 4 to put a constitutional question before voters in 2026, asking them to surrender their “power and authority” to legalize cannabis or other psychoactive substances via the ballot initiative process. The Senate passed the resolution in a 29-6 vote on March 12, ensuring that the state will pay up to $200,000 to put a constitutional amendment on next year’s ballot.
Although Redman was one of the 58 House members who voted in favor of passing the resolution last week, Rebel, who serves as the Democratic minority leader in the lower chamber, opposed its passage.
“All that this [resolution] does is it’s stripping the power of the people, should the people of Idaho ever reach that level where they are so desperate to get medical cannabis legalized that they are willing to leap through the astonishing hurdles that have already been set in their path for a ballot initiative,” Rubel said on the House floor.
In 2021, Rubel sponsored a previous version of the Sgt. Jeremy Kitzhaber Medical Cannabis Act, which is named after a 22-year U.S. Air Force veteran with stage 4 terminal cancer who spoke in favor of the legislation four years ago. During his service, he was exposed to radiation and other biological and chemical hazards.
“The cancer was linked to my exposure to radiation, when I was told it was not as hazardous as it turned out to be,” he said at the time. “And so, I underwent cytoreductive HIPEC surgery. I had my organs lifted from me. I had cancer stripped from my diaphragm [and] cleared down to my pelvis. I had inner-belly chemo. And I had been put back together, and I took a long time to recover.
“I didn’t even think about medical cannabis as an option until my doctors started saying that they would prescribe it to me if I didn’t live in Idaho—if I wasn’t in a state where it was illegal— because I was so thin, and I had so much trouble eating while on chemo that I was actually starving to death.”
Kitzhaber made a “brutally painful” recovery only to fail chemo and have the cancer come back, resulting in a second surgery to have it all done again. He was placed on several opioids.
Despite Kitzhaber’s testimony, the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee never gave the 2021 legislation a full hearing.
In 2025, Redman’s sponsorship of the latest Sgt. Kitzhaber Medical Cannabis Act (H.B. 401) is a head-scratcher on its surface. The Republican lawmaker also sponsored H.B. 7 earlier this session, which backpedals on reform by mandating a $300 minimum fine for possessing up to 3 ounces of cannabis in Idaho. Gov. Brad Little signed the bill on Feb. 24. It becomes effective July 1.
At a public hearing for the bill in January, Redmen said, “We do not want this to become a marijuana state.”
However, Redman also indicated in January that perhaps it’s time for the state Legislature to consider medical cannabis legalization.
“We heard some extremely compelling arguments in testimony today that dealt with the use of medicinal marijuana, and honestly, maybe that’s a conversation that this body should have … for some folks that are dealing with some extremely tough issues,” Redman said after the hearing.
Kitzhaber testified at the hearing to oppose H.B. 7 in January.
“Somebody under chemotherapy that’s almost starving to death shouldn’t get the $300 fine just like somebody else who wanted to get high,” he said.
While that testimony did not deter Redman from standing behind his bill that will become effective later this year, Redmen’s introduction of H.B. 401 this week indicates he agrees with Kitzhaber: Medical cannabis patients wouldn’t be fined or criminalized for possessing up to 2 ounces under Redman’s latest bill. However, smoking medical cannabis in public or public view would be prohibited, as would home cultivation.
Under H.B. 401, there would be 16 qualifying conditions, such as AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder or other debilitating medical conditions as determined by a practitioner.
Also under the legislation, medical cannabis products would need to be in measured dosage form in blister-seal or tamper-evident packaging that indicates the amount of THC and CBD contained.
Idaho remains one of eight states that has not legalized a medical cannabis program, even a highly restrictive one like in Texas, where THC is capped at 1%.
The bipartisan legislation to legalize medical cannabis aims to set up a system of importation that collides with federal law. Read More
