Two North Dakota Medical Cannabis Companies Donated Bulk of Legalization Campaign’s Funding

Two organizations linked to North Dakota medical cannabis companies have contributed the bulk of the funds to New Economic Frontier, the campaign spearheading the cannabis legalization initiative in the state, the North Dakota Monitor reports. The Secretary of State’s Office announced on Monday the question will appear on November ballots.  

Pure Dakota Health, which operates a chain of three medical cannabis dispensaries in the state, has contributed about $247,000 in regular and in-kind donations to the campaign, according to campaign finance reports outlined by the Monitor, while GR Holding OH-ND LLC, a company associated with multistate cannabis company Curaleaf, donated $40,000. Curaleaf operates four medical cannabis dispensaries in North Dakota.  

There has been only $130 in small-dollar donations collected by the campaign outside of the $287,000 donated by the medical cannabis operators.  

Steven Bakken, chair of New Economic Frontier, told the Monitor that any business, including North Dakota’s medical cannabis providers, would have a chance to apply for adult-use cannabis permits, if the measure passes. 

Paul Chialdikas, senior vice president and central region lead for Curaleaf, said in a statement that the firm has helped other states transition from medical to adult-use markets in the past and has “the infrastructure and expertise to provide a diverse assortment of safe, tested products to adult-use consumers and medical patients alike if the initiative passes.” 

Medical cannabis sales in the state have increased from about $6.4 million in 2020 to $21.6 million in 2023, according to a 2023 Department of Health and Human Services annual report outlined by the Monitor. Those sales have resulted in more than $2.1 million in medical cannabis fees collected during the 2021-23 biennium.

More than 9,500 North Dakota patients were enrolled as of June 30, 2023.