South Dakota\u2019s secretary of state on Tuesday gave activists approval to launch a signature gathering drive to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n
Advocates have been considering a slew of reform measures as the state Supreme Court continues contemplate a review of the constitutionality of an earlier cannabis legalization initiative that voters approved in 2020<\/a> but which was later challenged with a lawsuit funded by the administration of Gov. Kristi Noem (R).<\/p>\n Time is running short to mobilize a ballot campaign to qualify for 2022, however. And while the campaign had initially put forward four proposed legalization initiatives<\/a>\u00a0in the event of a negative ruling by the court, they\u2019ve decided to pursue just one.<\/p>\n Late last week, the attorney general\u2019s office published the final form of the various reform measures, and now the secretary of state has signed off, clearing the way for petitioning to begin.<\/p>\n Matthew Schweich, campaign director for South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) said in a press release that advocates remain \u201chopeful\u201d that Amendment A, the 2020 legalization measure, will be restored by the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, the November 8 deadline for 2022 ballot qualification is quickly approaching, and we have no choice but to launch a signature drive,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the coming days, we will be distributing petitions to volunteers all across the state and announcing signing locations where voters can easily sign our petitions. We have less than a month to collect the signatures we need, but our supporters are very energized.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that the group decided to pursue the shortest proposed initiative they filed because it is \u201cthe most likely to withstand any future legal challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the cannabis legalization measure<\/a> that activists are pursuing would accomplish if enacted:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n A fiscal analysis<\/a> by the Legislative Research Council concluded that the measure \u201ccould generate estimated additional revenue of $3.3 million in FY 2024, $4.8 million in FY 2025, and $6.2 million in FY 2026, totaling $14.3 million over three years.\u201d<\/p>\n If the Supreme Court rules to uphold the 2020 legalization initiative, advocates would drop the new effort\u2014but they aren\u2019t taking any chances and are doing what they can now to put the issue back before voters next year if need be.<\/p>\n SDBML will have until this November 8 to collect at least 16,961 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify the statutory measure for next November\u2019s ballot. The campaign is seeking volunteers to boost the petitioning process.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you probably know, [voter-approved] Amendment A is stuck in court. We\u2019re still waiting for the South Dakota Supreme Court to issue a ruling and we don\u2019t know when that will occur,\u201d SDBML said in an email blast to supporters over the weekend. \u201cWhile we wait, the November 8th deadline to submit petitions and qualify a second cannabis legalization initiative for the 2022 ballot (which will be necessary if Amendment A loses in court) is quickly approaching.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have no choice but to launch another signature drive this month. We need to collect 17,000 signatures from South Dakota voters by early November,\u201d the organization said.<\/p>\n While advocates remain frustrated over a February lower court ruling that invalidated last year\u2019s adult-use legalization initiative\u2014and the ongoing delay in the Supreme Court\u2019s decision on upholding or overturning that decision\u2014they\u2019re at least encouraged that the separate medical cannabis measure that voters approved<\/a>\u00a0approved took effect in July.<\/p>\n For the statutory, adult-use legalization measure that the campaign is now pushing, activists listed a number of ways people can help get the reform on the ballot:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf enough South Dakotans donate just a few hours of their time, we\u2019ll have no problem qualifying for the ballot,\u201d SDBML said. \u201cIf not, we may be waiting years for a cannabis legalization policy in South Dakota. Let\u2019s not allow that to happen.\u201d<\/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 Last week, Oklahoma activists filed a pair of 2022 ballot initiatives to legalize adult-use marijuana and remodel the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis program.<\/a><\/p>\n Nebraska marijuana activists have begun petitioning for\u00a0a pair of\u00a0complementary initiatives to legalize medical cannabis<\/a>\u00a0that they hope to place on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n Ohio activists have cleared a final hurdle to begin\u00a0collecting signatures for a 2022 ballot initiative<\/a> to legalize marijuana in the state.<\/p>\n Florida activists recently filed a\u00a0ballot measure to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0for adult use.<\/p>\n New Hampshire lawmakers are pursuing a new strategy to legalize marijuana in the state that involves\u00a0putting a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot<\/a>\u00a0for voters to decide on in 2022.<\/p>\n Lawmakers in Maryland are also crafting legislation to\u00a0place a marijuana legalization referendum on the 2022 ballot<\/a>\u00a0after the House speaker called for the move.<\/p>\n Missouri voters may see a\u00a0multiple marijuana initiatives on the state\u2019s ballot next year<\/a>, with a new group filing an adult-use legalization proposal that could compete with\u00a0separate reform measures that are already in the works<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arkansas advocates are collecting signatures to\u00a0place adult-use marijuana legalization on the ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Activists in Idaho are working to advance separate measures to legalize possession of recreational marijuana and to create a system of legal medical cannabis sales. State officials recently\u00a0cleared activists to begin collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0for a revised initiative to legalize possession of marijuana that they hope to place before voters on the 2022 ballot. Meanwhile, a separate\u00a0campaign to legalize medical cannabis in the state<\/a>\u00a0is also underway, with advocates actively collecting signatures to qualify that measure for next year\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n After a House-passed bill to\u00a0legalize marijuana in North Dakota was\u00a0rejected by the Senate in March<\/a>, some senators hatched a plan to\u00a0advance the issue by referring it to voters on the 2022 ballot<\/a>. While their resolution advanced through a key committee, the full Senate blocked it. However, activists with the group\u00a0North Dakota Cannabis Caucus are collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0to qualify a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis for the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n Wyoming\u2019s attorney general recently issued ballot summaries for proposed initiatives to\u00a0legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize cannabis possession<\/a>, freeing up activists to collect signatures to qualify for the 2022 ballot.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just marijuana measures that reform activists are seeking to qualify for state ballots next year. A California campaign was recently cleared to begin\u00a0collecting signatures for an initiative to legalize psilocybin<\/a>. And advocates in Washington State have announced plans to\u00a0put a proposal to decriminalize all drug before voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, voters in more than a dozen Ohio municipalities will\u00a0decide on ballot measures to decriminalize marijuana<\/a> next month. That comes as an Ohio Republican lawmaker plans to announce a new bill to legalize cannabis statewide<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Read the full text of the South Dakota marijuana legalization initiative<\/a> below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Click to access south-dakota-marijuana-initiative.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n Republican Ohio Lawmaker Announces Marijuana Legalization Bill, Reflecting Recent Bipartisan Shift On Issue<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post South Dakota Activists Launch Marijuana Legalization Signature Drive To Get On 2022 Ballot<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
South Dakota\u2019s secretary of state on Tuesday gave activists approval to launch a signature gathering drive to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot. Advocates have been considering a slew of reform measures as the state Supreme Court continues contemplate a review of the constitutionality of anContinue 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\/50457"}],"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=50457"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50458,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50457\/revisions\/50458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: South Dakota Activists Launch Marijuana Legalization Signature Drive To Get On 2022 Ballot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"