Resolution Seeks To Protect ‘Virtue And Sobriety’

Republican Rep. Bruce Skaug, the sponsor of the resolution, said the HJR4 was prompted by concern for the “virtue and sobriety” of Idahoans.

“It’s time for Idahoans to proactively decide the state’s fate relative to marijuana, psychoactive substances and narcotics,” Skaug said, according to a report from the Idaho Capital Sun. “I’m asking that we let our state go on the offense.”

Before Wednesday’s vote on the resolution, the House State Affairs Committee held a hearing on the proposal.

“There is good and evil in the world,” Skaug told the committee, the Idaho Statesman reported. “One of the most evil things we deal with is the addiction, the sale, illegal sales, and production of drugs — illegal drugs.”

Legalization Bid Also Filed For 2026

In November, the group KindIdaho filed a ballot measure to legalize cannabis for personal use for the 2026 general election. If passed by Idaho voters, the proposal would exempt adults aged 21 and over from state laws prohibiting the “possession, production, or cultivation of cannabis” under certain specified conditions.

Marijuana could only be grown or possessed “for personal use and not for sale or resale” and consuming weed would be prohibited in a “public or open setting.” The measure would not legalize marijuana sales or the commercial cultivation and distribution of cannabis.

Joseph Evans, a military veteran and a spokesman for KindIdaho, says that if it becomes part of the state constitution, “HJR4 would block citizens’ initiatives to legalize invaluable and irreplaceable medications in Idaho.”

“This is the fourth attempt in three years by the legislature to become the sole arbiters of medical value in the state,” Evans writes in an email. “If HJR4 passes the Senate, it will force us to divide our efforts between our current initiative and campaigning against HJR4. As a small grassroots non-profit, this would significantly hinder our mission of patient access, not only for cannabis but for other effective treatments as well.”
In a brief on HJR4, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) noted that 70% of Idaho voters in a recent survey said that “the use of marijuana for medical purposes should be made legal.” The poll also found that nearly half (48%) of Idahoans support legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

“State lawmakers are well aware that their ‘reefer madness’ views are out of step with most Idahoans,” Paul Armentano, NORML deputy director, said in a statement from the cannabis policy reform advocacy group. “That is why they are seeking to remove voters from the equation. Whether or not one personally supports or opposes cannabis legalization, these overtly undemocratic tactics ought to be a cause of deep concern.”