BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Measure Five on the ballot proposes legalizing recreational marijuana in North Dakota. Those in favor of the measure say legalizing marijuana could help the state’s economy. However, there are others who worry that it will negatively impact the state.
New Economic Frontier Chair Steve Bakken said legalizing marijuana is about staying ahead of the inevitable; it’s been on the ballot multiple times already.
“It’s going to pass at some point, and postponing a fight that’s already scheduled, it just doesn’t work, and you wind up cleaning more messes than you could have eliminated by getting ahead of something,” Bakken said.
He said it’s better for the state to lay its own ground rules around the drug before out-of-state initiatives determine them for us. Additionally, he said we could potentially lose millions of dollars in revenue to other states that have already legalized marijuana. And, he said there’s a potential benefit; it could cut into illegal drug dealers’ businesses, hampering their ability to deal drugs like fentanyl.
“The drug dealer is actually the gateway, it’s not the drug. So, if we have the ability to take that out of their ability to raise revenue— because they operate them as a business— then that’s a win for law enforcement, the judicial side of things and the state of North Dakota,” Bakken said.
However, others like Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben say legalizing marijuana could have negative repercussions. He said legalizing it won’t free up law enforcement, because they aren’t spending a lot of resources on marijuana enforcement anyway.
“The cartels aren’t going out of business. Blockbuster Video went out of business because it didn’t change, but the cartel will change, and they will do whatever they have to do criminally to profit,” Leben said.
Plus, Leben said legalizing something small like this can lead to bigger problems down the road.
“Everything we legalize in this society comes at a cost. We legalized gambling years ago; it generated a lot of revenue, but it generates a lot of cost for the state. Now we’ve got people addicted to gambling, we’ve got gambling crime occurring in the state,” Leben said.
He said ultimately, it comes down to the kind of future people want for North Dakota, and that the state isn’t hurting for money. Bakken argues that legalization could ensure that people who already use cannabis have a way to get safe products that aren’t cut with anything that could hospitalize them.
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Those in favor of the measure say legalizing marijuana could help the state’s economy. However, there are others who worry that it will negatively impact the state. Read More