Idaho Ban on Certain Psychoactive Drugs Amendment (2022)

Idaho Ban on Certain Psychoactive Drugs Amendment
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic Drug crime policy
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The Idaho Ban on Certain Psychoactive Drugs Amendment was not on the ballot in Idaho as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.

The measure would have added a new section Article III of the Idaho Constitution that would have prohibited the production, manufacture, transportation, sale, delivery, dispensing, distribution, possession, or use of a psychoactive drug unless it met one of the following conditions:

• allowed under the Idaho Uniform Controlled Substances Act and approved by the Food and Drug Administration,
• part of a clinical investigation approved by the Food and Drug Administration,
• allowed under Idaho's Right to Try Act, or
• documented and held for the purposes of a law enforcement investigation or regulated testing laboratory.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question would have been as follows:

“

Shall Article III of the Constitution of the State of Idaho be amended by the addition of a new Section 30 to provide that the production, manufacture, transportation, sale, delivery, dispensing, distribution, possession, or use of certain psychoactive drugs shall not be lawful in the State of Idaho unless such drugs are: (a) approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration and permitted by the state; (b) lawfully prescribed; and (c) lawfully dispensed?

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article III, Idaho Constitution

The measure would have added a new section to Article III of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added: Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Section 30.

PRODUCTION, MANUFACTURE, TRANSPORTATION, SALE, DELIVERY, DISPENSING, DISTRIBUTION, POSSESSION, OR USE OF PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS.

(1) Except as permitted pursuant to section 37-2716(c), (d)(1), and (d)(2), Idaho Code, and section 37-2732A, Idaho Code, as such sections existed on July 1, 2020, the produc37 tion, manufacture, transportation, sale, delivery, dispensing, distribution, possession, or use of a psychoactive drug shall not be permitted in the state of Idaho, unless the psychoactive drug is:

(a) Permitted under chapter 27, title 37, Idaho Code, and approved by the federal food and drug administration for sale as a brand name or generic prescription drug or biological therapeutic product on the basis of safety and effectiveness un5 der the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act and is also:

(i) Prescribed, dispensed, or administered to a patient by a licensed prescriber or practitioner; and

(ii) Possessed and used as prescribed;

(b) Part of a permitted and documented clinical investigation with the federal food and drug administration;

(c) An investigational drug, biological product, or device provided to an eligible patient pursuant to the right to try act, chapter 94, title 39, Idaho Code;

(d) Documented and held in evidence by a law enforcement agency, a testing laboratory, court personnel, or a prosecuting attorney for purposes relating to a criminal prosecution, an investigation, training, or related statutory obligations; or

(e) Documented and held by a registered testing laboratory for purposes relating solely to testing specimens or substances for the presence of any psychoactive drug.

(2) For purposes of this section:

(a) "Clinical investigation" means any experiment performed by a sponsor, an investigator, an applicant, or a contract research organization in which a drug is administered or dispensed to, or used involving, one (1) or more human or animal subjects as part of an application to the federal food and drug administration to evaluate, approve, or authorize new or investigational new drugs under the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act;

(b) "Eligible patient" and "investigational drug, biological product, or device" shall have the same meanings as provided in section 39-9403, Idaho Code, as such section existed on July 1, 2020;

(c) "Administer," "production," "manufacture," "delivery," "dispense," "distribute," "practitioner," "prescribe," and "prescriber," or a variation of any such term, shall have the same meanings as provided in section 37-2701, Idaho Code, as such section existed on July 1, 2020; and

(d) "Psychoactive drug" means any amount or mixture thereof of any schedule I or schedule II controlled substance as identified in sections 37-2701(t), 37-2705, and 37-2707, Idaho Code, as such sections existed on July 1, 2021, as well as all substances added in amendments to such sections made subsequent to July 1, 2021.

Full text

The full text of the amendment can be read here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Idaho Constitution

To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required in both the Idaho State Senate and the Idaho House of Representatives.

This amendment was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 101 (SJR 101) on January 18, 2021. On February 3, 2021, the state Senate passed SJR 101 in a vote of 24-11. Of the 28 Republicans in the Senate, 24 voted in favor of SJR 101, and four voted against it. All seven Democrats voted against it in the Senate. The measure did not receive a vote by the House before it adjourned on May 12, 2021.

Vote in the Idaho State Senate February 3, 2021
Requirement:
Number of yes votes required: 24  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	24	11	0
Total percent	68.57%	31.43%	0.00%
Democrat	0	7	0
Republican	24	4	0

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• Drug crime policy on the ballot

Idaho

• Idaho ballot measures
• Idaho ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Full text of SJR 101