South Dakota Bill To Ease Felony Punishment For First- And Second-Time Drug Consumption Offenses Advances
Marijuana IndustryMarijuana Industry News February 8, 2025 MJ Shareholders 0
“I think we’d all agree that even though we have a great system, it is failing at least a certain majority of people.”
By John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight
Drug ingestion would no longer be a felony crime on the first or second offense under the terms of a bill endorsed by a Senate panel on Tuesday in Pierre.
South Dakota is the only state in the nation where a failed drug test alone can draw prison time if the drug in question is classified as a controlled substance. A failed test for marijuana can result in a misdemeanor charge and possible jail time.
Senate Bill 83 would strip the potential for felony charges for ingesting drugs like methamphetamine or cocaine from the state’s ingestion law until a person is charged a third time. First- or second-offense charges would be misdemeanors, punishable by up to a year in jail. Those convicted or pleading guilty would be required to complete a chemical dependency evaluation, follow any recommendations that flow from it, and complete probation terms, in addition to any jail time their sentencing judge sees fit.
A third or subsequent offense in the space of 10 years would be a felony—a three-strikes setup similar to South Dakota’s laws on driving under the influence.
The Senate Judiciary Committee took testimony on the bill last week, but deferred action until Tuesday. After adding an amendment meant to encourage the use of a specialty probation program, the committee opted to send the bill to the Senate floor on a 5–1 vote. The lone “nay” came from Hot Springs Republican Sen. Amber Hulse. Sen. Helene Duhamel (R-Rapid City) argued against SB 83 on Thursday but wasn’t present for Tuesday’s vote.
Supporters: Law causes more trouble than it addresses
A bipartisan smattering of lawmakers have tried to repeal or adjust the felony ingestion law on multiple occasions in recent years. None has succeeded; most fizzled before reaching a floor vote in the House or Senate.
This year’s effort came from first-term Sen. Tamara Grove (R-Lower Brule) who ousted Democratic incumbent Shawn Bordeaux last fall to earn a seat that represents a heavily Native American constituency.
Grove, co-pastor of the Hope Center of Lower Brule, told the committee she’s worked with drug users since her own recovery began in 2012. The law has done nothing to reduce the flow of drugs into the state or lessen its impact on users.
What it does do, Grove said, is straddle struggling people with the baggage of a felony conviction. That makes it harder to get a job or an apartment, which can make it harder to pay bills or care for children, perpetuating cycles of hopelessness that tend to spur continued drug abuse.
“Punishment does not work,” Grove said during last week’s debate on the measure.
Instead, she said, it burdens the state’s courts and correctional system, the latter of which is moving to construct an $825 million men’s prison near Sioux Falls to deal with what Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko calls overcrowded and unsafe conditions at the state penitentiary. A new women’s prison is also in the works for the Rapid City area.
Like Grove, Denny Davis of Sioux Falls is a pastor. The volunteer prison chaplain and supporter of SB 83 told lawmakers he recently sat down with a group of new arrivals at the Sioux Falls-based penitentiary and asked how many had an ingestion charge.
“Every one of them raised their hand,” Davis said.
Lobbyists for the state’s trial and defense lawyers also testified in favor. Young people experimenting with drugs, they said, can wind up with felony charges or prison time thanks to the state’s uniquely punitive approach.
Opponents: Public safety considerations, current probation scheme favor ingestion law
Calls for grace to the young and foolish may sound convincing, Lincoln County State’s Attorney Tom Wollman said, but the reality is that people don’t fail a drug test one day and wind up in prison the next.
“It does not happen,” Wollman said. “What happens is that individuals who are convicted of these low-level drug offenses for the possession of the controlled substance and the ingestion of the controlled substance go out on supervised probation, and there are many success stories from that.”
Wollman noted that state law has a presumption of probation for people convicted of low-level drug felonies. That means that unless a judge has a compelling reason not to, the first- and second-offense ingestion defendants referenced in Grove’s bill would be on probation without stripping the crime of its felony status.
He also said most people charged with ingestion are typically charged with thefts or assaults. Drug users “are creating all manner of victims in our community,” Wollman said, and the ingestion law offers prosecutors another tool for holding them accountable.
Grant Flynn, speaking on behalf of Attorney General Marty Jackley (R), said he finds the idea that drugs in the body are different from drugs outside of it “perplexing” in the criminal justice context.
“We don’t want that substance going into a person, because of the significant negative effects that that has,” Flynn said. “So why would we now diminish the criminality of the exact thing that we’re trying to prevent from happening?
A felony charge, Flynn argued, signals the seriousness of drug use and should act as a deterrent to those who might consider it a harmless experiment.
Tuesday amendment backs probation program
The Judiciary committee voted to defer a vote on SB 83 after Thursday’s debate, in part to allow some undecided senators to ponder the change’s implications.
Republican Sen. Greg Blanc, a Rapid City pastor, told his committee fellows the debate left him “torn between responsibility and redemption.”
On Tuesday, Grove moved an amendment to encourage judges to use a probationary framework known as the HOPE program in first- and second-offense ingestion cases. It’s a form of intensive supervision that involves random drug tests and “swift and certain” sanctions for violations.
That drew praise from Blanc. He said he’s troubled that South Dakota’s high incarceration rate—14th in the nation, Wasko has told lawmakers—is so high compared with its low population.
“Something has to be done here,” Blanc said on Tuesday. “I think we’d all agree that even though we have a great system, it is failing at least a certain majority of people.”
This story was first published by South Dakota Searchlight.
Photo courtesy of Markus Spiske.
The post South Dakota Bill To Ease Felony Punishment For First- And Second-Time Drug Consumption Offenses Advances appeared first on Marijuana Moment.
![MJ Shareholders avatar](https://mjshareholders.com/wp-content/peepso/users/2/1caa9843f1-avatar-full.jpg)
MJ Shareholders
MJShareholders.com is the largest dedicated financial network and leading corporate communications firm serving the legal cannabis industry. Our network aims to connect public marijuana companies with these focused cannabis audiences across the US and Canada that are critical for growth: Short and long term cannabis investors Active funding sources Mainstream media Business leaders Cannabis consumers
No comments so far.
Be first to leave comment below.