FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – According to AAA, nearly 71 million people are expected to travel this week. Chances are, many of you will be if you haven’t already.

It’s all hands on deck for law enforcement in Minnesota. They’re keeping an extra eye out for impaired and distracted drivers.

“We hope when we go out, we don’t find anybody. You know, making those poor choices because we want everybody to hear the conversations here than along the roadside. Really the 4th of July holiday should be about making memories and we don’t want to involve bad crashes or anything like that,” said Sgt. Jesse Grabow with the Minnesota State Patrol.

State Patrol says over the last five years, there have been 25 traffic-related deaths on the 4th. That’s more compared to other holidays including the winter ones like Christmas and New Year’s.

”Clear, sunny days, dry roads, it’s one of those things that again, just because the road conditions are in good conditions doesn’t mean you can get laxed on your behaviors when it comes to traffic safety.”

While different states, safety is also the main goal in North Dakota.

“We have a speeding grant that’s going on right now. So we’ll definitely be enforcing speeding but as always, we definitely do whatever we can to deter DUIs and we will be enforcing DUIs whenever we can,” Sgt. Matt Ysteboe with Fargo Police tells Valley News Live.

In North Dakota, a first-offense DUI is considered a Class B misdemeanor. It can lead to a $500 fine if your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is below .16. The higher the BAC, the higher the penalty. Drinking and driving can be more than a penalty to your wallet.

“Making sure that you have a designated driver. We don’t want to see anybody out there getting hurt or getting involved in with some terrible accident from drinking and driving,” added Ysteboe.

For Minnesota, punishment for one’s first DWI can vary. The Department of Public Safety says a typical penalty for a first-time offender is potential jail time and the loss of a license for a minimum of up to 30 days to a year. When factoring costs and legal fees, you could be looking at a price tag as high as $20,000.

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A person in North Dakota died after consuming recalled microdosing candies that are linked to illnesses across the country, the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday.

The death is under investigation by state agencies, the poison control center and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA published a recall on June 28 of some Prophet Premium Blends Diamond Shruumz products. The products include microdosing chocolate bars, infused cones and micro-dose and mega-dose/extreme gummies.

The products are marketed as containing a proprietary blend of mushrooms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of July 1, 48 illnesses, including 27 hospitalizations, have been reported in 24 states, according to the CDC. North Dakota is the only state where a death is being investigated, the agency said. One person has been reported getting sick, according to the CDC.

North Dakota officials are warning the public because the recalled products could still be available for sale online, in stores that sell hemp-derived products, or in smoke and vape shops, said Michelle Dethloff, director of the infectious diseases and epidemiology unit.

The products are not illegal in North Dakota but they are not licensed or regulated by the state, Dethloff said.

Retail locations in Montana, including two places in Yellowstone County, were selling the products, and they’re available online.

State officials would not provide specifics about when or where in North Dakota the death occurred or the person’s age, citing privacy reasons. The person who died is an adult, Dethloff said. The exact cause of death remains under investigation.

The cases of illness reported nationwide have been severe, Dethloff said. Symptoms reported include seizures, loss of consciousness, confusion, sleepiness, abnormal heart rates, high or low blood pressure, nausea and vomiting.

People who suspect poisoning can call the Poison Center at 800-222-1222.

This story was originally produced by the North Dakota Monitor which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. 

Darrell Ehrlick in Montana contributed to this report.

New Economic Frontier, which is behind the push to legalize marijuana in North Dakota, said on Tuesday that the campaign had gathered enough signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot, reported Marijuana Moment.

The deadline to submit the signatures to the state is Monday, July 8.

“After months of hard work and incredible community support, we are ready to submit our collected signatures at the North Dakota State Capitol,” New Economic Frontier said in an email on Tuesday.

Chairperson Steve Bakken, a Burleigh County commissioner and former mayor of Bismarck, said last week that the signatures have been self-validated so far.

“Once we know the bill is going to be on the ballot, then it turns into opportunities to talk about what cannabis can do for North Dakota from a judicial and law enforcement perspective,” Bakken said, according to Minot Daily News. “There’s a lot of different layers on this, and giving the public the information to make their own decision as a voter is vitally important.”

Read Also: North Dakota Hospice Patients To Self-Certify For Medical Marijuana As Governor Signs Bill

Campaign organizers said in June that the initiative was on the verge of hitting the goal. “With 15,179 signatures collected so far, we are nearing our goal of 15,582 required signatures,” representing 2% of the state’s population, the campaign announced in a press release.

However, a new poll showed most North Dakota voters don’t want legal marijuana. More precisely, 57% of those asked said they oppose the recreational cannabis reform, while 43% are in favor, according to a survey of 500 likely voters completed by Opinion Strategies on behalf of the Brighter Future Alliance.

Under the measure, personal recreational marijuana use at home would be legal for adults over 21. The measure also proposes setting up a regulatory framework for the production and processing of cannabis as well as prohibited uses.

Bakken explained that the group behind the legalization campaign want to avoid “the Wild West” other states have experienced after enactment of similar laws, nor does it seek an “unfettered recreational law in North Dakota. It’s very important to us that the state can regulate it, have oversight, license it, tax it how they see fit.”

Previous efforts in 2018 and 2022 to legalize recreational cannabis in North Dakota failed.

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