If the South Dakota Supreme Court declines to overturn a February ruling that nullified a voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative, activists are going to go all-in on the ballot initiative process again to ensure that the reform is enacted in 2022.<\/p>\n
Late last week, they filed four separate legalization measures with the state Legislative Research Council\u2014the first step toward putting the issue before voters next year. South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws says the sponsors will drop the proposals\u00a0 if Amendment A, which was approved by voters last November, is fully restored by the state\u2019s high court. But for now, they\u2019re getting the process rolling in case the judiciary doesn\u2019t uphold the will of the electorate.<\/p>\n
The four initiatives share some basic provisions, but they each take a unique approach to the policy change. There\u2019s also a fifth measure that the group is backing which would eliminate a single-subject rule for the ballot process\u2014a policy that led to a state judge deeming the 2020 recreational measure unconstitutional<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud to be a sponsor of these initiatives because they represent the will of the voters,\u201d Melissa Mentele, who spearheaded a separate medical cannabis legalization initiative that was overwhelmingly approved by voters last year, said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cSouth Dakotans support cannabis legalization. If Amendment A is repealed, then we need to be prepared to put legalization on the ballot again.\u201d<\/p>\n Tim Johnson, a former U.S. attorney, is also a sponsor of the new measures.<\/p>\n Activists recognize that the state\u2019s ballot laws means that they are up against the clock to get any of the measures approved for circulation and to collect enough to qualify. They will only pursue putting one of the cannabis-related initiatives on the ballot if Amendment A remains overturned.<\/p>\n After going through the Legislative Research Council, the initiatives must then be accepted by the state attorney general and secretary of state. At that point, advocates will have until November 8 to collect at least 33,921 valid signatures for a constitutional proposal and 16,961 for a statutory measure.<\/p>\n South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws is supporting two measures of each kind.\u00a0Here\u2019s what each of the four legalization proposals would do:<\/p>\n \u201cIf Amendment A is fully restored by the South Dakota Supreme Court, then we would not move forward with these initiatives,\u201d Matthew Schweich, deputy director of Marijuana Policy Project and campaign director of South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, said. \u201cIf Amendment A is struck down, then we want the option of returning to the ballot next year. We are filing these initiatives now because the deadline for completing a signature drive is quickly approaching.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain hopeful that the South Dakota Supreme Court will make the right decision and restore Amendment A. However, we need to be prepared for any potential outcome,\u201d he said. \u201cThese four cannabis legalization initiatives represent different approaches that could accommodate different rulings in the Amendment A case. Only one would be advanced to the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow is the time to get the ball rolling for 2022. Hopefully, it isn\u2019t necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While advocates remain frustrated over a February ruling that invalidated the 2020 adult-use legalization initiative, they\u2019re at least encouraged that the separate medical cannabis measure was approved and the law took effect last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Technically, marijuana cardholders can now legally have up to three ounces of cannabis\u2014but only if they have a valid registration card, and regulators have until November 18 to begin issuing those. Patients who have an out-of-state medical marijuana card or one issued by a tribe of which they are a member, however, can now legally possess cannabis without arrest under\u00a0guidance issued last week by the state Highway Patrol.<\/p>\n The guidance also stipulates that, even for a person without a medical cannabis card, they will not be arrested as long as they are in possession of fewer than three ounces, claim to have a debilitating medical condition and can provide documentation related to that condition from a medical doctor.<\/p>\n Home cultivation of up to six medical cannabis plants is also now legal for cardholders. But again, that policy change is still contingent on cards being issued.<\/p>\n Outside of South Dakota,\u00a0advocates across the county are also already working on number of state-level cannabis initiatives for 2022.<\/p>\n Missouri activists, for example, revealed last month that they plan to put a recreational marijuana legalization measure<\/a>\u00a0before voters next year.<\/p>\n Nebraska marijuana activists have announced plans for a \u201cmass scale\u201d campaign to\u00a0put medical cannabis legalization on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two\u00a0measures were submitted in Wyoming<\/a> last month to place medical cannabis legalization and adult-use decriminalization<\/a>\u00a0measures before voters in 2022.<\/p>\n Also last month, Idaho activists filed a measure to legalize marijuana possession<\/a>\u00a0for adults that they hope to place before voters on the 2022 ballot. That\u2019s in addition to a separate medical cannabis effort in the state.<\/p>\n North Dakota activists are formulating\u00a0plans for a marijuana legalization measure<\/a>\u00a0after lawmakers failed to enact the reform this session.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court has\u00a0blocked two cannabis legalization initiatives<\/a>\u00a0for which activists had already collected thousands of signatures.<\/p>\n Locally, a newly established Texas progressive group unveiled a campaign last month to put an initiative to decriminalize marijuana possession<\/a> and ban no-knock warrants on this November\u2019s ballot in Austin.<\/p>\n Ohio activists also recently qualified a measure to decriminalize cannabis<\/a>\u00a0to appear on a local 2021 ballot\u2014the first of dozens of reform proposals that could go before voters this year as signature gathering efforts continue across the state. The group is also working to put marijuana initiatives on\u00a0local ballots in South Carolina and West Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read the text of the South Dakota marijuana legalization initiatives, and the single-subject proposal, below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n South Dakota 2022 Marijuana\u2026<\/a> by Marijuana Moment<\/a><\/p>\n Congressional Lawmakers Support Using Drones To Spot Illegal Marijuana Grows On Public Lands<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post South Dakota Marijuana Activists Unveil Four Legalization Initiatives For 2022 Ballot, Pending Supreme Court Decision<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
If the South Dakota Supreme Court declines to overturn a February ruling that nullified a voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative, activists are going to go all-in on the ballot initiative process again to ensure that the reform is enacted in 2022. Late last week, they filed four separate legalization measures withContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48663,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48662\/revisions\/48663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Constitutional Approach 1<\/h3>\n
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Statutory Approach 2<\/h3>\n
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\nRead More: South Dakota Marijuana Activists Unveil Four Legalization Initiatives For 2022 Ballot, Pending Supreme Court Decision<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"