A July 2024 report from the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) reported: “Following the medical marijuana legalization in 2016, North Dakota’s hospitals observed an increase in both emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to marijuana related events.” After legalizing medical marijuana, North Dakota saw a 336% increase in marijuana-related emergency department visits, rising from 556 in 2016 to 2,424 in 2023.
Marijuana-Related Emergency Department Visits 2016-2023:
- 2016: 556 Visits
- 2017: 886 Visits
- 2018: 1,107 Visits
- 2019: 1,210 Visits
- 2020: 1,550 Visits
- 2021: 1,917 Visits
- 2022: 2,197 Visits
- 2023: 2,424 Visits
The report noted “the numbers from 2020 forward were obtained from Essence, a syndromic surveillance system, with a more refined marijuana query.” North Dakota voted to legalize medical marijuana in November 2016, and the law took effect in April 2017. In 2018 and 2022, North Dakota voters rejected ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana. This November, North Dakota will yet again vote on whether to legalize recreational marijuana.
This ballot measure, if passed, would threaten the health and well-being of North Dakotans. For example, it would allow individuals to possess up to 1,500mg of THC in the form of cannabinoid products and 300mg of edibles. This ballot measure would risk exacerbating the rise in marijuana-related emergency department visits, just as medical marijuana has.