Is Cannabis Legal in Idaho?

The short version

Idaho classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Idaho Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Idaho Code Title 37, Chapter 27. There is no adult-use program, no medical program, no patient registry and no licensed dispensary anywhere in the state. Possession of any amount is a crime. The state also treats hemp-derived products containing any THC as controlled substances, so the delta-8 and THC gummies sold in some other states are illegal here too.

Idaho is surrounded by states and a country that have gone the other way. Washington, Oregon, Montana and Nevada permit adult use; Utah permits medical use; British Columbia is part of Canada's national legal market. None of that changes anything at the Idaho line. Bringing cannabis into Idaho from a legal jurisdiction is illegal under Idaho law and, because it crosses a state or national border, under federal law as well.

Recreational cannabis

Not legal. No bill to legalize adult-use cannabis has passed either chamber of the Idaho Legislature, and no citizen initiative to do so has qualified for the ballot. In 2013 the Legislature adopted SCR 112, a resolution stating Idaho would never legalize marijuana for any purpose. Resolutions are not law, but the position has held.

Medical marijuana

Not legal. Idaho has no medical cannabis program. Physicians cannot recommend marijuana, no medical card exists, and possession by a patient from another state's program is treated the same as any other possession. The closest the state has come was a 2015 bill allowing low-THC CBD oil for children with severe epilepsy, which passed the Legislature and was vetoed. Medical initiative campaigns in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022 and 2024 all failed to reach the ballot.

CBD and hemp

Idaho legalized industrial hemp production in 2021 under a state plan administered by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. Hemp is defined as cannabis with 0.3 percent THC or less on a dry-weight basis. Consumer CBD products, however, are legal in Idaho only when they contain no THC at all and are derived from parts of the plant excluded from the state's definition of marijuana. A product that is legal federally because it tests under 0.3 percent THC can still be illegal in Idaho if it contains any THC.

Penalties under Idaho law

Idaho Code 37-2732 sets the penalties. This is a summary, not legal advice; charging decisions and sentences depend on the facts of each case.

Is there a dispensary in Priest Lake?

No. Licensed marijuana dispensaries cannot legally operate anywhere in Idaho, and that includes Priest Lake, Coolin, Nordman, Priest River and the rest of Bonner County. Anyone advertising cannabis for sale in Priest Lake is operating illegally. Priest Lake Cannabis Company is a brand in development; it has no store, no license and no products, and it will only seek to operate if Idaho law changes.

What could change, and when

There is currently no confirmed date for marijuana legalization in Idaho. Change could come through the Legislature, which has shown no interest, or through a citizen initiative, which has never gathered enough signatures. In November 2026, Idaho voters will decide HJR 4, a proposed constitutional amendment that would reserve to the Legislature the sole authority to legalize marijuana and other psychoactive substances. If it passes, the initiative route closes. Either way, the vote itself legalizes nothing.

At the federal level, a 2024 proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III remains a proposal until a final rule is published, and rescheduling would not legalize marijuana federally or in Idaho. We track all of this on the Idaho Cannabis Legalization Tracker.

Neighboring states and Canada