South Dakotans Will Vote On Legalizing Cannabis In November Election, Marking Third Attempt

Could the third time be a charm for cannabis legalization in South Dakota? It's possible, as marijuana advocates in the state are not giving up, managing to once again collect enough signatures and place the initiative on the November ballot.

Secretary of State Monae Johnson's office officially validated a measure on Monday for the November general election ballot that will allow South Dakotans to decide on cannabis legalization for the third time, writes the Associated Press.

The validation news comes nearly four weeks after marijuana advocates submitted approximately 29,000 signatures. The state law requires 17,508 valid signatures.

"We firmly believe that South Dakotans deserve to make their own choices on how they live their lives, including the freedom to responsibly use cannabis," stated Zebadiah Johnson, political director for the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana.

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Long History Of Struggle

The proposed ballot measure would permit recreational marijuana use for adults over 21, setting possession limits at 2 ounces or 16 grams of concentrated forms of marijuana and 1,600 mg of THC in products. The proposal excludes provisions for business licensing or taxation, due to a strategic move to comply with the state’s strict single-subject rule for amendments.

Why?

Previous efforts to legalize recreational cannabis fell short, with one of those occasions being the due to a violation of the single-subject rule. In the Nov. 2020 elections, South Dakota managed to garner some 54% support for legalization, however, the measure was declared unconstitutional. According to Circuit Judge Christina Klinger's ruling from Feb. 2021, the initiative violated the requirement that constitutional amendments can only deal with one issue. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) first challenged the amendment and ordered a lawsuit to overturn the adult-use portion of the ballot results in Jan. 2021. In November of the same year, the state Supreme Court confirmed the Circuit Judge's ruling, killing the initiative.

Then in Nov. 2022, South Dakotans voted against Senate 3 bill that would have legalized adult-use cannabis.  

Opponents also spoke out on this occasion. Jim Kinyon, chairperson of Protecting South Dakota Kids argued that voters had already made their decision.

"How many times does the state of South Dakota need to reject recreational marijuana before the industry will accept the decision of the state's citizens?" Kinyon said at the time."I expect that the industry will triple down on their money to try and sway and dissuade voters."

Related Links:

South Dakota Bans Sale Of Delta-8 THC And Other Unregulated Hemp Products

GOP Gov. Noem Signs 3 Medical Marijuana Bills Into Law, One Placing ‘Guardrails’ On Former Prisoners

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