Marijuana reform is gaining momentum in the American Midwest as Nebraska and North Dakota have recently taken steps toward changing their outdated cannabis policies, writes Calvin Hughes.

Earlier this week, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (R) quietly made a small but important change to the Roughrider State's marijuana policies. On Wednesday, he signed a bill that will see small amounts of cannabis decriminalized in the state come August 1.

North Dakota may not be the most publicly visible state when it comes to cannabis laws. The most recent example of the state’s relative quiet when it comes to weed is the fact that the governor just signed a new bill to lower the penalties for marijuana possession—and the whole thing happened without a whole lot of fanfare. Regardless, the move represents what could be a big step for cannabis law in North Dakota.

Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has signed legislation into law reducing marijuana possession penalties.

Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has signed legislation amending the state’s nascent medical cannabis access program.

Helix TCS, Inc., through its cannabis seed-to-sale tracking and point-of-sale subsidiary, BioTrackTHC, has officially deployed North Dakota’s government medical cannabis traceability system.

The system “will track and trace the state’s entire medical cannabis supply chain for compliance and regulatory oversight,” notes a statement from Helix TCS, a provider of ancillary services for the legal cannabis industry that reports having met all go-live deadlines for its government-contracted traceability solutions.

North Dakota lawmakers again wrestled with the state’s medical marijuana law Monday, amid some frustration that the drug isn’t yet available to patients almost two years after the state enacted the voter-approved statute.

Fargo Democratic Rep. Pam Anderson, an early medical marijuana proponent, pushed a bill adding several conditions that would qualify for the drug’s use, including autism, anxiety disorder and Tourette syndrome. It would also allow people from other medical marijuana states to obtain the drug here and expand the types of health care providers who could approve its use for patients.

"I think what we passed last time ... for the most part was a good bill," Anderson said. "What I think we're all trying to do now is really make it better."

After an effort to legalize recreational marijuana failed at the ballot box, a North Dakota lawmaker said this week she plans to introduce legislation reducing penalties for possessing a small amount of the drug.

State Rep. Shannon Roers Jones, R-Fargo, said under the proposal, people caught with a small amount of marijuana would only pay a fine and avoid creating a criminal record. She said she’s still working out the details of the bill, adding it could apply to possession of an ounce or less of the drug.

Marijuana possession is currently a Class B misdemeanor under state law, but there are exceptions for medical use with a valid certification and card.