BOISE, Idaho — Idaho residents should be prepared to pay up if they’re caught with marijuana, even a small amount, after a new law mandated a minimum fine for anyone in possession of the substance.

The law took effect July 1 and compels judges to implement the $300 fine on anyone with less than 3 ounces of marijuana in their possession.

While having more than 3 ounces of pot is a felony, the smaller amount falls under a more general part of Idaho drug law that classifies possession of a Schedule I drug as a misdemeanor. Judges previously had the discretion to instate any fine up to $1,000 for misdemeanor marijuana possession. They could also essentially waive the fine, aside from court costs.

That is no longer an option.

“(The bill came) at the request of a magistrate judge who saw inconsistencies in the sentencing of the fines on misdemeanor marijuana,” said Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, who introduced the bill and a similar version that failed to pass the Legislature last year.

Skaug said that like raising the price of a traffic ticket, the purpose of the bill is to deter recreational marijuana use, which is legal for recreational use in all but two of Idaho’s six border states — Utah, where medicinal use is legal, and Wyoming, where the drug is illegal.

“Other states have moved away from what Idaho has always been, and we are simply staying the same, which means no marijuana in Idaho,” Skaug said.

Idaho legislators ‘just hate marijuana,’ law skeptic says

Skaug, a former Ada County deputy prosecutor, said he thinks the law will be a success. He told the Idaho Statesman he received mostly positive feedback about the bill with the exception of a few “really nasty emails and phone calls.”

“I’ve brought some controversial bills over the years, but this one brought the most hateful phone calls and emails that I’ve ever had,” Skaug said.

In 2024, 814 people were charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana in Ada County, according to Idaho court data.

Three ounces of marijuana is more than the maximum daily amount dispensaries can legally sell to an adult in Idaho’s neighboring states. The maximum is 2.5 ounces per day in Nevada, 2 ounces in Oregon and 1 ounce in Washington and Montana.

Jeremy Kitzhaber, a U.S. Air Force veteran whose exposure to radioactive materials in the military left him with terminal cancer, has been a vocal advocate for the legalization of medical marijuana in Idaho.

He testified against Skaug’s bill before the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee and told the Statesman he spoke with Skaug directly about “the unfairness of the law in general.”

“I see people getting way worse than they deserve, and I just thought it was a bad take, especially when they’re not doing that with other penalties for other misdemeanors,” Kitzhaber said.

Some lawmakers, like Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, raised similar concerns while the bill was in committee. Most of Idaho’s misdemeanor laws that carry a mandatory minimum fine are violent crimes, according to Idaho Reports.

Kitzhaber said he thinks Idaho lawmakers are “hanging on to a sinking boat” when it comes to the state’s strict cannabis laws.

“There’s a few legislators that absolutely just hate marijuana,” he said. “They don’t want anything to do with it.”

For the veteran, marijuana is an alternative to opioids that he fears could be addictive. In Kitzhaber’s case, his prescribed opioids have led to bowel obstructions, he has told lawmakers in public hearings, where he advocated for bills to legalize medical marijuana.

Kitzhaber said he’s skeptical the minimum fine will deter people from possessing small amounts of marijuana in Idaho. Research has long been mixed on whether fines deter crime, and the National Institute of Justice notes that it’s increased certainty of being caught, not increased severity of punishment, that’s a more powerful deterrent.

Data has shown for years that Idaho residents frequent marijuana dispensaries in border towns like Ontario, Oregon, and polling from the Statesman in 2022 showed two-thirds of Idahoans support legalizing medical marijuana, while about 48% of residents support legalizing recreational marijuana.

Kitzhaber said he thinks legislators are disregarding constituents’ views in favor of their own. This year, the lawmakers passed a resolution that will appear on Idaho voters’ 2026 general election ballots and, if approved, would block any future citizen-led efforts to legalize marijuana.

“We’re going to just continue to get more and more strict,” Kitzhaber said.

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