Idaho voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment this week that would have stripped citizens of their ability to legalize or decriminalize marijuana and other drugs through ballot initiatives, leaving that door open for future measures even as the substances themselves remain illegal statewide. House Joint Resolution 4 failed in every county in Idaho, according to results reported Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
HJR 4 would have amended the Idaho Constitution to give the state Legislature exclusive authority over whether marijuana and other psychoactive substances could be legalized or decriminalized, effectively barring citizen-led ballot initiatives from addressing the issue, according to the Idaho Capital Sun. The resolution had cleared the Idaho Legislature in 2025 with a 58-10 vote in the House and a 29-6 vote in the Senate before heading to voters this year. With its defeat, Idaho's citizen initiative process stays intact, meaning future marijuana-related measures could still reach the ballot if organizers gather enough qualifying signatures.
Why Boise Voters Say It Was Never Just About Pot
For some Boise residents interviewed downtown by Idaho News 6, the vote was less a referendum on cannabis and more a statement about who should hold decision-making power in the state. Dave Ferguson, who has lived in the Boise area since 1986 and in the city's North End since 2009, said people should be the ones making these calls rather than leaving it solely to legislators. His opposition to HJR 4, the station reported, centered on preserving the public's ability to vote on a future marijuana measure, not necessarily on supporting legalization itself.
Dominic Boucher, who also voted against HJR 4, framed his reasoning more directly: Idahoans should be able to choose for themselves whether to allow or decriminalize marijuana. Boucher told the station the statewide results, which saw the measure fail in every county, did not surprise him.
Not Everyone Opposed the Amendment
Not every voter interviewed sided against HJR 4. One Boise neighbor, who spoke off camera, said they had voted in favor of the amendment, valuing a process in which elected representatives take multiple steps before approving or denying major policy changes. That same voter said Idaho's rural communities should retain a strong voice in decisions about marijuana policy, a concern distinct from simply favoring or opposing legalization.
Vote Counts Still Being Finalized
The exact margin of defeat varied slightly depending on when and how it was reported. As of 2:20 a.m. Mountain time the morning after the election, the Idaho Capital Sun reported 425,809 votes, or 66.1 percent, against HJR 4, versus 218,312 votes, or 33.9 percent, in favor. The Idaho Statesman separately reported that with all precincts reporting, 66.3 percent of the statewide vote went against the amendment. The Idaho Capital Sun noted that Idaho's election results do not become official until certified by the Idaho State Board of Canvassers, which is scheduled to meet November 24.
Marijuana and cannabis remain illegal in Idaho regardless of the outcome, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. Separately, a push to place medical marijuana legalization directly on this year's ballot failed to collect enough signatures to qualify, according to the Idaho Statesman.
A Familiar Pattern on Idaho's Ballot
Idaho's initiative and referendum process dates back to constitutional amendments in 1912, according to the Idaho Secretary of State. An Idaho Statesman editorial noted that in the 88 years before its 2024 publication, only 30 citizen initiatives had reached the state's ballot, and only half of those had been approved — including Medicaid expansion, which voters approved with 60 percent support in 2018 after Idaho's Republican legislators had failed to pass it themselves for several years.
Idaho's neighbors have taken a different route on cannabis specifically. Voters in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Nevada all used the ballot initiative process to legalize marijuana in their own states, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. With HJR 4's defeat, Idaho voters have ensured that if a similar initiative ever gathers enough signatures at home, they will still get the chance to decide for themselves.
