Law South Dakota

[Baron23]

South Dakota Voters Will Decide On Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure In November​

South Dakota officials on Wednesday certified that activists turned in a sufficient number of signatures earlier this month to qualify a marijuana legalization measure for the November ballot.

South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) needed 16,961 valid submissions to place their initiative before voters. Now, the secretary of state’s office has confirmed that more than enough valid petitions were received and that the proposal will appear on the November ballot as Initiated Measure 27.

Matthew Schweich, campaign director of SDBML, told Marijuana Moment that he is “very happy” that voters will get a chance to decide on the reform.

“We are extremely thankful to all the people who signed our petitions and all of our incredible volunteers who helped make this happen,” he said.

“As required by South Dakota Codified Law § 2-1-16, our office conducted a random sample of the petition signatures and found 79.22 percent to be valid,” stated Secretary Of State Steve Barnett said in a press release. “Based on the results of the random sample, 25,023 signatures were deemed valid.”

South Dakota voters already approved legalization during the 2020 election, but the reform was struck down by the state Supreme Court following a challenge supported by the governor’s office.

Schweich said that he expects voters to approve legalization again but that “we cannot be complacent and we must run a very strong campaign” in order to ensure another victory.

“But I am confident that we can win again and I believe that we will exceed the 54 percent that achieved in 2020,” he said. “Our goal is wot win by more than we did in 2020.”

Following the court ruling that invalidated the earlier ballot box win, activists decided to take a two-track approach to the policy change in 2022, both working with legislators for a legislative reform while separately collecting signatures for the ballot initiative if lawmakers failed to act.

While they would have preferred lawmakers to enact the policy change, that did not pan out this session. The House rejected a Senate-passed legalization bill in March, effectively leaving it up to activists to get on the ballot again.

Here’s what the campaign’s marijuana legalization ballot initiative would accomplish if approved by voters:

The measure would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to an ounce of cannabis. They could also grow up to three plants for personal use.

It also lays out civil penalties for violating provisions related to issues such as public consumption or growing more plants than permitted.

Employers would specifically be allowed to continue enforcing workplace drug policy prohibiting cannabis use by workers.

State and local governments could continue to ban marijuana activities made legal under the initiative in buildings “owned, leased, or occupied” by a governmental body.

The measure does not touch on regulatory policies concerning taxing cannabis sales, licensing or equity.


SDBML’s 2020 success at the ballot was overruled by the state Supreme Court as a result of a legal challenge funded by Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R) administration. The court ruled that the measure violated a single-subject rule for ballot initiatives.

Prior to the general election, the campaign will be focusing efforts on defeating a separate constitutional initiative, Amendment C, that would require at least 60 percent of voters to approve a ballot measure, instead of a simple majority. The proposal was placed on the state’s June 7 primary ballot by an act of the legislature.

A Marijuana Interim Study Committee, headed by legislative leaders, was established last year to explore cannabis policy reform, and the panel ultimately recommended that the legislature take up legalization this session. The House-defeated legislation was one of the direct products of that recommendation.

 

[Baron23]

South Dakota regulators just removed this requirement for obtaining Medical Marijuana

The news comes on the heels of Gov. Kristi Noem (R) saying cannabis legalization can move forward if voters approve it on the Nov. 8 ballot. (Benzinga)​

South Dakota regulators approved an important change in the state’s medical marijuana program. In a 5-1 vote on Tuesday, the panel approved the proposal to allow the state Department of Health to remove a requirement from how the department chooses how or if a medical condition qualifies for treatment with cannabis, reported Keloland.

In other words, the department no longer must determine if “treatments currently available for the proposed condition are either ineffective or produce harmful side effects.”


Furthermore, the state official also allowed the department to change the wording of a related requirement.

The wording was changed from “Medical use of cannabis will provide therapeutic or palliative benefits that outweigh the risks of cannabis use” to “Medical use of cannabis is determined to provide benefits that outweigh the risks of cannabis use.”

Tim Engel, an attorney representing the South Dakota State Medical Association, doesn’t support these changes and Rep. Kevin Jensen agrees, saying that there would no longer be any way to identify the benefits.

Recent Cannabis Developments In South Dakota​

The news comes on the heels of the state’s governor Kristi Noem (R), who has opposed adult-use marijuana legalization for a while now, saying she’d allow the implementation of the law, if voters approve it on the Nov. 8 ballot.

During a recent meeting with around 20 constituents in Rapid City, Noem explained why she challenged the 2020 ballot measure, which advocates criticized for overturning the will of the people as 54% of voters backed it. The governor talked about what would happen if she gets reelected and initiates Measure 27 if it is approved next week in the elections. The bill would legalize recreational marijuana for adults over 21.

Noem had initially insisted on the court challenge, saying the measure was unconstitutional. The governor now says the new recreational marijuana proposal has been written correctly.

 

[momofthegoons]

South Dakota Senate Authorizes Lawmakers To Set Medical Pot Conditions​

The authority currently lies with the South Dakota Department of Health.

Lawmakers in South Dakota on Thursday took a step toward making significant changes to the state’s medical cannabis program.

The Republican-controlled state Senate approved a bill that would broaden the list of qualifying conditions for a medical marijuana prescription, while also transferring the power to set those conditions from the South Dakota Department of Health to the state legislature.

The bill passed by a vote of 20-15, according to local news station KELO, and the legislation now moves to the state House of Representatives, where Republicans also maintain a sizable majority.

Under South Dakota’s medical cannabis law, a patient with one of the following “debilitating conditions” may use medical cannabis once he or she obtains approval from the Department of Health: A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe, debilitating pain; severe nausea; seizures; or severe and persistent muscle spasms.

The legislation that was approved by the state Senate on Thursday would broaden the list of debilitating conditions to also include the following: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or positive status for human immunodeficiency virus; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Multiple sclerosis; Cancer or its treatment, if associated with Crohn’s disease; Epilepsy and seizures; Glaucoma; or Post-traumatic stress disorder.

The bill also removes language in the law that gives the Department of Health the authority to determine which debilitating conditions will be covered.

The measure was endorsed by a special legislative committee charged with providing oversight to the state’s medical cannabis law, which was approved by voters in 2020.

The chair of that committee, Republican state Sen. Erin Tobin, “said taking away the department’s authority to set conditions and putting it with lawmakers instead gave her more confidence to prescribe medical marijuana for a patient,” KELO reported.

KELO reported that Tobin noted that “the department doesn’t have a medical professional on its staff to decide on conditions.”

“This is something the Department of Health needs,” Tobin said, as quoted by KELO.

Legislators who objected to the proposal argued that the measure that was approved by South Dakota voters in 2020 explicitly gave the authority to the Department of Health.

South Dakota’s medical cannabis law officially took effect in the summer of 2021, but the state’s first licensed dispensary did not open until last year.

Some Republican lawmakers in the state have been wary of the new medical cannabis law, contending that it could be a gateway to recreational pot use.

Voters in the state rejected an initiated measure in November that would have legalized recreational marijuana in South Dakota, a disappointing outcome for advocates who believed they had triumphed two years prior.

In 2020, voters there approved both the medical cannabis measure and an amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana.


The amendment drew an immediate legal challenge from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and the state Supreme Court ultimately struck it down in November of 2021.

Noem celebrated the ruling.

“South Dakota is a place where the rule of law and our Constitution matter, and that’s what today’s decision is about,” Noem said at the time. “We do things right—and how we do things matters just as much as what we are doing. We are still governed by the rule of law. This decision does not affect my Administration’s implementation of the medical cannabis program voters approved in 2020. That program was launched earlier this month, and the first cards have already gone out to eligible South Dakotans.”

 

[CarolKing]

South Dakota​

UPDATE: Republican Governor Kristi Noem has signed the following bills into law.

SD1 authorizes medical cannabis access to patients with the following qualifying conditions: AIDS/HIV, ALS, Multiple sclerosis, Cancer or its treatment, if associated with severe or chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, cachexia or severe wasting, Crohn’s disease, Epilepsy, and seizures, or Post-traumatic stress disorder. However, it limits patients and other third parties from petitioning for the addition of future qualifying conditions.

SB3 specifically excludes pregnant and breastfeeding women from being issued a medical cannabis card.

 

[Baron23]

"n 2020, South Dakota voters approved medical cannabis by 70 percent."

Fuck these assholes....THIS is the key factor and these asshole politicians just no longer understand (if they ever did) that they serve the constituency, not the other way around.

Cannabis groups question approval of Medical Marijuana program repeal petition ​

A cannabis reform group is challenging the Secretary of State for approving a ballot question petition they say violates the law.​

The petition in question repeals the state’s medical marijuana program.


Republican Secretary of State Monae Johnson approved the petition for circulation in early September. The petition includes the attorney general’s explanation and the text of the proposed law.


It’s two sentences long. It states the medical cannabis law be repealed and “See Exhibit A for the 95 sections that will be repealed.”


That rankles some pro-cannabis reform groups in the state, because state law requires the petition to contain the full text of the initiated measure.


Matthew Schweich is with South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws. He said his concern is driven by a genuine desire for everyone to follow the rules.


“Including rules I don’t agree with. The petition formatting rules, I think, are too strict and could be improved, but those are the rules,” Schweich said. “Given that my side—the pro-cannabis reform side of the debate—has gone out of its way to follow all the rules, including putting the entire initiative text on a petition and driving up the cost of printing.”


Schweich said he’s not heard back from Secretary of State Monae Johnson. He said he’s considering litigation.


Johnson’s office has not returned SDPB’s request for comment, either.


The law requiring petitions to contain the measure's full text is just over a decade old. It was brought by then-Republican Senator Ried Holien, who is now Watertown’s mayor. While he wouldn't comment on this particular petition, Holien said the intent of his law is for registered voters to have as much information when signing a petition as well as when voting.


In 2020, South Dakota voters approved medical cannabis by 70 percent.


The petition to overturn the state’s medical marijuana law must submit 17,500 valid signatures by May 7 to make the 2024 ballot.

 

[Baron23]

Push to get Recreational Marijuana back on the ballot ramping up

Petitions to put measures on the ballot for the 2024 election are due on May 7.​

Campaigns like the one from the group South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws need to collect 17,508 valid signatures from registered South Dakota voters and submit them to the South Dakota Secretary of State by that date.


At their last count about a month ago, they had received over 12,500 signatures and they plan to give an updated count after this weekend.


They feel like they’re getting close, but they always aim for more than the requirement because some signatures will get thrown out. With just 17 days left, the push to put recreational marijuana on the ballot is ramping up, especially on a day like Saturday.


For supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana April 20, 4/20, is practically a holiday. But even on a holiday, getting signatures does not stop.


“I’ve worked on many signature drives and one thing I always see is that the closer you get to the deadline the more energy and urgency there is and we’re seeing that now,” explained Matthew Schweich, Executive Director Of South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws.


For a third election cycle, Schweich has been petitioning to put changes to cannabis laws on the ballot.


In 2020, South Dakotans voted to legalize cannabis, but some pushback in the courts prevented recreational marijuana legalization, instead only legalizing medical use. In 2022, a measure to legalize recreational marijuana was voted down. Schweich believes the third time is the charm.


“We do believe that the support is there among voters and we believe that the 2020 result was really a better reflection of the will of the people,” Schweich said. “We want to make sure that as many voters as possible get to weigh in on this issue.”


Schweich said that constituents have been ignored by politicians on this issue for many years.


“The best evidence of that is the 70% result on Measure 26. 70% of South Dakota voters wanted a medical cannabis law and for years South Dakota had one of the most punitive and harsh cannabis laws in the country. So the ballot initiative process which was created here in South Dakota over a century ago is there when politicians don’t listen and when voters need to take matters into their own hands so that our laws and policies truly reflect the will of the people of South Dakota,” Scheich said.


One constituent, Gayle Craik, has been using marijuana for medication. She said that it is the only medication that she has been taking for side effects from her ovarian cancer treatments, treating pain, depression, loss of appetite, nausea and sleep. She said she believed that the plant saved her life.


“My oncologist told me his average patient in my condition is on five to seven different medications. I’m only using marijuana,” Craik described.


Craik told a story of when she went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She said that her doctor would have prescribed medical marijuana but with her medical card in South Dakota, they could not. Craik said that she believes legalizing marijuana recreationally in South Dakota will help ensure she can be prescribed her medication with her card in other states as well.


“We need recreational medication so that people like me can travel to those states, not only get their medication but legally use their medication,” Craik said.


Craik added that she believes that as a state with plenty of tourism, it makes sense to legalize marijuana recreationally so that tourists can use their medication while visiting.


Supporters hope that with a 2024 Presidential election, more voters will go to the polls. And if this measure does get put on the ballot, they hope the will of the people will be to legalize recreational marijuana.


Schweich believes the stigma surrounding cannabis is slowly disappearing and he wants to keep the push for legalization going strong, despite some growing wary of their fight.


“There are some supporters of cannabis legalization who are fatigued. Now we’re in our third election in a row and I sympathize with that. To those people, I say, stepping back and not signing, not engaging, that’s what the opponents of cannabis reform want you to do. They want you to submit to their efforts to thwart the will of the people, whether that’s the amendment A lawsuit, which was a deeply unfair ruling, whether that was legislative attempts to weaken the medical law. We should not give them what they want. We need to keep fighting, keep pushing back and in the end we’re going to get good cannabis policies for South Dakota,” stated Schweich.