Expect recreational marijuana back on ballot in South Dakota

In the 2022 South Dakota legislative session, lawmakers introduced 47 bills dealing with the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. On Wednesday cannabis groups released their report card on individual lawmakers and how they voted on marijuana issues.

The report cards show that 10 house members and 4 senators got A-plus regarding their support and understanding of cannabis issues in South Dakota. 8 house members and one senator got an F.

Lawmakers passed a number of cannabis related bills in the session that just wrapped up on Monday. Many of them centered around clarifying regulations pertaining to the legalization of medical marijuana.
A recreational marijuana bill passed the senate but failed in the house.

“The South Dakota legislature came the closest they ever have to passing legalization I believe this is because the voters spoke loud and clear in 2020 in their support for Amendment A,” said Ned Horsted the Executive Director, Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota

South Dakotans approved Amendment A with 54 percent of the vote in 2020 but it was thrown out by a judge on the grounds that it violated the state’s single-subject rule for ballot initiatives.

So cannabis groups will be putting a recreational initiative back on the November ballot. The deadline to submit petitions to the secretary of state is May 3rd. So far they have collected just over 20 thousand signatures. They need around 17 thousand but will probably submit between 25 and 27 thousand signatures to give themselves a buffer. [Read more at Keloland]