Heated discussion on legalizing marijuana in South Dakota

Once again, South Dakota voters will determine the issue of legalizing marijuana in the state.

Initiated Measure 27 would legalize marijuana in small amounts for people age 21 and older. On this week’s Inside KELOLAND, representatives in favor of IM 27 and against IM 27 shared their views in a heated, but civil, discussion on the issue. You can watch the full show in the player above.

Matthew Schweich from the “Yes on 27” Campaign and Dr. Bonnie Omdahl represented the group called Protecting South Dakota Kids. Both Omdahl and Schweich provided links to data they referenced during the discussion and you can find those documents attached in this story further below.

To start, KELOLAND’s Tom Hanson asked both Omdahl and Schweich to outline their group’s perspective on IM 27.

“Our organization takes the position that marijuana is an incredibly dangerous drug and we know that through a lot of medical research,” Omdahl said. “When you legalize drugs, look at alcohol and tobacco. Does that mean kids don’t get access to it? Of course it doesn’t. And if you look at the states that have legalized it, children’s use has gone up. And that’s our position that it’s a dangerous drug.”

Schweich responded by saying his campaign believes arresting people for cannabis is a waste of law enforcement time and resources.

[Read more at Keloland]