This document is intended to provide North Dakota cannabis entrepreneurs with an overview of the state’s medical cannabis regulations. It also includes links to additional resources including license applications for producers and dispensaries.
After remaining illegal in the state for over 80 years, North Dakota cannabis policy reform now seems to be in full swing with an operational marijuana program and talk of potential legalization for adult recreational use.
After a failed attempt to establish a medical marijuana program in 2015, North Dakota voters approved Measure 5 in the midterm elections of Nov. 2016. The state’s medical marijuana laws permit the production, processing, sale, dispensing, and medical use of marijuana by qualifying patients and caregivers.
To the dismay of activists who backed the initiative, the measure was revised in 2017 by the state legislature. Among the list of revisions, a home growing provision was removed. The medical marijuana program officially went into effect on Apr. 18 of 2017. In May 2018, Pure Dakota LLC and Grassroots Cannabis were granted licenses for cannabis manufacturing facilities. However, it wasn’t until July 10, 2018, that the North Dakota Department of Health (“the department”) opened up the application process for medical cannabis dispensary licenses. North Dakota cannabis regulations call for the licensing of up to eight dispensaries.
Earlier in March of 2019, the first state-licensed dispensary opened in North Dakota, and three additional dispensaries are expected to begin sales the same year. In total, state laws permit up to eight dispensaries. Two cultivation facilities have also been licensed.
On a side note, the cultivation of industrial hemp is also legal in North Dakota.
In Nov. 2018, North Dakota voters rejected Measure 2, a recreational marijuana ballot initiative that would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana by all adults age 21 or over. However, activists are now working to put a new marijuana legalization measure on the June 2020 ballot.
In 2014, a poll conducted by the University of North Dakota found that North Dakotans were against legalizing recreational marijuana, 24-68. Four years later, however, a 2018 poll showed that North Dakotans favored the recreational marijuana ballot initiative 46-39 with 15 percent undecided.
This document is up to date as of the end of August 2019.
The complete legal code regarding medical marijuana regulations in North Dakota can be found here:
North Dakota lawmakers revised the state’s medical marijuana laws in 2017. The changes also resulted in the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Recent changes to North Dakota cannabis regulations include:
Below are some of the major bullet points related to cannabis regulations in North Dakota.
In order to apply for a compassion center license, applicants must submit the following fees and documentation:
Application forms can be found here: www.nd.gov/eforms/.
Note: Although the state lists this as the link to application forms, we were unable to find them on the site. An inquiry has been made and this will be updated when we have the proper information.
When reviewing a North Dakota compassion center application the department of health must consider the following:
If a compassion center application is approved, the applicant must submit all of the following additional items to the department to qualify for registration:
A North Dakota compassion center registration certificate expires two years after issuance. License holders may submit a renewal application between 90 and 60 days of expiration to avoid suspension. In order to be approved for renewal the following conditions must be satisfied:
If a compassion center does not meet the requirements for renewal, the department will provide written notice of the determination.
Upon issuance of a compassion center license, the department will issue a registry identification card to each qualified compassion center agent associated with the compassion center. To qualify to be issued a registry identification card, each compassion center agent must be at least 21 years of age and must submit all of the following registry identification card application materials to the department:
Expiration - The registry identification card of a compassion center agent expires one year after issuance or upon the termination of the compassion center's registration certificate, whichever occurs first. To prevent interruption of possession of a valid registry identification card, a compassion center agent shall renew a registry identification card by submitting a completed renewal application no less than forty-five calendar days before the expiration date of the existing registry identification card.
Revocation - The department may suspend or revoke a cardholder's registry identification card or a compassion center's registration certificate for a material misstatement by an applicant or failure to comply with regulations. A suspension may not be for a period longer than six months. A manufacturing facility may continue to produce and process and to possess marijuana and usable marijuana during a suspension, but may not transfer or sell usable marijuana. A dispensary may continue to possess usable marijuana during a suspension, but may not purchase, dispense, or transfer usable marijuana.
Below we go into more detail related to the most commonly sought regulations.
A compassion center is subject to random inspection by the department. During an inspection, the department may review the compassion center's records, including the compassion center's financial and dispensing records, which may track transactions according to the registered qualifying patient and registered designated caregiver registry identification numbers. The department shall conduct inspections of compassion centers to ensure compliance with this chapter. The department shall conduct inspections of manufacturing facilities for the presence of contaminants. The department shall select a certified laboratory to conduct random quality sampling testing, in accordance with rules adopted under this chapter. A compassion center shall pay the cost of all random quality sampling testing.
A manufacturing facility shall test marijuana at a manufacturing facility for the presence of pesticides. If a marijuana pesticide test or a random quality sampling test under section 19-24.1-22 indicates the presence of a pesticide, the manufacturing facility shall report the test result immediately to the department and to the agriculture commissioner. Upon the order of the department or agriculture commissioner, the manufacturing facility immediately shall destroy all affected or contaminated marijuana and usable marijuana inventory in accordance with rules adopted under this chapter, and shall certify to the department and to the agriculture commissioner that all affected or contaminated inventory has been destroyed. 19-24.1-24.
A manufacturing facility shall grow an amount of marijuana sufficient to meet the qualifying patient population demands. For every five hundred plants in excess of one thousand plants a manufacturing facility possesses, the manufacturing facility shall pay the department an additional certification fee of ten thousand dollars. This fee is due at the time of increase and again at the renewal of the compassion center registration certificate under section 19-24.1-16. 2. A dispensary may not possess more than three thousand five hundred ounces [99.22 kilograms] of usable marijuana at any time, regardless of formulation. 3. The health council shall adopt rules to allow a manufacturing facility to possess no more than an additional fifty plants for the exclusive purpose of department-authorized research and development related to production and processing. These plants are not counted in a manufacturing facility possession amount and are not subject to an additional fee.
Compassion centers are required to implement appropriate security and safety measures to deter and prevent the unauthorized entrance to areas containing marijuana and containing usable marijuana and to prevent the theft of marijuana and usable marijuana. Only authorized personnel are allowed entry to an area in which production or producing takes place or in which marijuana or usable marijuana is held. Compassion centers must have a fully operational security alarm system at the authorized physical address which includes an electrical support backup system for the alarm system to provide suitable protection against theft and diversion. Furthermore, compassion centers are required to maintain documentation in an auditable form for all maintenance inspections and tests conducted under this section, and any servicing, modification, or upgrade performed on the security alarm system as well as alarm activations or other events that require a response by public safety personnel or any breach of security.
Compassion centers are required to employ a barcoding inventory control system to track batch, strain, and amounts of marijuana and usable marijuana in inventory and to track amounts of usable marijuana sold to dispensaries. A secure computer interface is required to transfer inventory amounts and dispensary purchase information to the department. Compassion centers must store all marijuana in an enclosed locked facility with adequate security. Furthermore, compassion centers must conduct inventories of marijuana. If an inventory results in the identification of a discrepancy, the compassion center must notify the department and appropriate law enforcement authorities immediately.
Compassion centers are required to keep detailed financial reports of proceeds and expenses, inventory, sales, and financial records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for a period of seven years. Compassion centers must allow the department, or an audit firm contracted by the department, access at all times to all books and records kept by the compassion center.
Dispensaries are prohibited from possessing more than three thousand five hundred ounces of usable marijuana at any time, regardless of formulation.
Manufacturing facilities may not possess more than one thousand plants, regardless of the stage of growth. However, it may possess an additional fifty plants for the exclusive purpose of department-authorized research and development related to production and processing.
Plants for research and development must be included in the inventory and located in a restricted area separate from the restricted area containing plants used for producing and processing of usable marijuana and may not be sold to a dispensary for patient consumption.
The use of pesticides is prohibited in the production, processing, or storage of marijuana. Pesticides include:
Compassion center restricted access areas include all areas containing marijuana, usable marijuana, and medical marijuana waste as well as all areas used for production and processing. An electronically controlled access system is required to limit entrance to all restricted access areas of its facility. The electronic controlled access system must:
A compassion center must immediately submit stored controlled-access-system data to the department upon request.
Restricted access areas must be identified with a sign that states: "Do Not Enter - Restricted Access Area - Access Limited to Authorized Personnel Only."
Individuals authorized to enter restricted access areas include:
A compassion center shall maintain documentation of access to restricted areas. The documentation must include the date of entry, time of entry, time of exit, name of the individual, the reason for access, and any other information required by the department. The documentation must be retained for at least three years.
Law enforcement, fire personnel, or emergency medical service professionals may enter restricted access areas in the event of an emergency requiring immediate action.
A dispensary may have a display area where usable marijuana is displayed in enclosed locked cases accessible only by compassion center agents. The purpose of the display area is to provide registered qualifying patients and registered designated caregivers the opportunity to view usable marijuana and receive education regarding its use.
Individuals authorized to enter dispensary display areas include:
Before allowing an individual to enter a dispensary display area, the dispensary must verify the validity of a cardholder's registry identification card.
All medical marijuana waste generated during production, processing, and testing must be evaluated against the state's hazardous waste regulations to determine if medical marijuana waste is designated as hazardous waste.
Medical marijuana waste not designated as hazardous waste must be rendered unusable in accordance with subsection 4 prior to disposal. Medical marijuana waste rendered unusable must be disposed of in accordance with subsection 5.
The required method for rendering medical marijuana waste unusable is by grinding the medical marijuana waste and incorporating it with other ground materials so the volume of the resulting mixture is less than fifty percent medical marijuana waste. All other methods for rendering medical marijuana waste unusable must be approved by the department before implementation.
There are two categories of ground material that can be incorporated with medical marijuana waste: compostable mix waste and noncompostable mix waste.
Compostable mixed waste includes medical marijuana waste to be disposed of as compost feedstock or in another organic waste method, such as an anaerobic digester, may be mixed with:
Noncompostable mixed waste: medical marijuana waste to be disposed of in a landfill or another disposal method, such as incineration, may be mixed with these materials:
Medical marijuana waste rendered unusable in accordance with subsection 4 can be disposed.
Disposal of the medical marijuana waste rendered unusable may be delivered to a permitted and state-approved solid waste facility for final disposition. Acceptable and department-approved permitted solid waste facilities include:
Disposal of the medical marijuana waste rendered unusable may be managed onsite by the generator in accordance with the standards of North Dakota Century Code chapter 23-29.
Compassion centers and laboratories must maintain a record of the final destination of medical marijuana waste rendered unusable. The record must be maintained for a period of seven years.
License holders may utilize third party seed-to-sale tracking systems. However, the department maintains an online system for inventory control and registry identification card verification. Any compassion center inventory control system must interface with the tracking system maintained by the department. If the compassion center's inventory control system does not adequately interface with the state’s tracking system, the department may require the compassion center to use the system maintained by the department.
All costs associated with interfacing are the responsibility of the compassion center.
Personnel records maintained by the compassion center must include all recruiting and screening documents, as well as other employee-related documentation. The list of required records includes the following:
Compassion centers may display a business name and logo on labels, signs, websites, and informational material provided to registered qualifying patients and registered designated caregivers. The name or logo may not include:
Websites may contain:
All marketing or advertising activities not covered under subsections 1 and 2, are subject to department approval. The compassion center must request approval from the department, and the department will approve or deny the request within thirty calendar days.
Below you’ll find various additional North Dakota cannabis regulation topics and the section of the legal code where the information can be found.
A notice of proposed changes to administrative rules has been filed with Legislative Council. To view the full notice including location, date, and time of a public hearing reference the documents below.
Division of Medical Marijuana
600 East Boulevard Ave., Dept. 301
Bismarck, ND 58505-0200
Office Phone 701.328.1311
Fax 701.328.1333
Email medmarijuana@nd.gov