Pictured: jars of different type of marijuana sit on counter during a sale at the Denver Kush Club in north Denver. (David Zalubowski, Associated Press)

North Dakota House approves restrictions on medical marijuana

BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota’s House has approved a comprehensive measure that regulates the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana initiative.

Representatives on Tuesday got the needed two-thirds majority to amend the citizen initiative. The Senate did the same earlier.

The House vote does not settle the debate on medical marijuana. The bill now returns to the Senate, and it likely will go to a conference committee, where three senators and three House members will negotiate its final details.

The measure, called the North Dakota Compassionate Care Act, won 65 percent voter approval in November. It allows the use of marijuana as medicine for people who suffer from debilitating illnesses.

The voter-approved version allowed far more freedom for citizens to grow and smoke the plant. Lawmakers removed provisions for growing it.