Bill to legalize marijuana dying in South Dakota legislature – for now |

A South Dakota legislature’s proposal to legalize recreational cannabis finally cleared a hurdle last week, only to be stymied by another on Monday.

But the legislation, Senate Bill 3, may not be quite dead just yet, much to the delight of proponents.

The bill, which aimed to uphold an election proposal that voters passed in 2020 but was later overturned by the courts, was passed by a single vote in the South Dakota state Senate last week. But this momentum proved short-lived.

On Monday, members of the House Committee on State Affairs defeated the bill by an 8-3 vote, despite “rumours speculating it could be brought back to life in the House of Representatives later in the week,” according to local TV station KELO.

The bill represents just the latest twist in a years-long saga surrounding legalization in Mount Rushmore state.

In 2020, voters there voted to pass two cannabis-related measures: Amendment A, a proposed amendment to the state constitution to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older, as well as hemp and medicinal cannabis; and Action initiated aimed at legalizing only medicinal cannabis.

But Amendment A met resistance from Republican state Gov. Kristi Noem almost immediately after the ballots were counted.

Noem and a few law enforcement officials challenged the change in court, and in February last year a South Dakota judge ruled in their favor. In November, the day before Thanksgiving, the state Supreme Court upheld that ruling, ruling that Amendment A violated the “one subject” requirement of the South Dakota Constitution.

Supporters of Senate Bill 3 argued last week that the proposal represents a chance for lawmakers to effectively get voters ahead of the curve on the issue, with supporters preparing to introduce a recreational cannabis proposal into the legislature again this year Bring vote in South Dakota.

“This is your opportunity to take matters into your own hands,” one of the bill’s backers, Republican State Senator David Wheeler, said last week. “This bill is your opportunity to do what the people said in Amendment A.”

“The marijuana train is one-way nationwide,” he added. “It’s better if we anticipate.”

But the bill always faced a steep climb in the House of Representatives, which, like the state Senate, is dominated by Republicans.

“That was not very favorable in the House of Representatives,” House Majority Leader Kent Peterson said last week. “I would assume this is going to have a decently tough road ahead.”

The legislature is due to close next week, but the Associated Press reports that supporters of the legalization bill “have vowed to make a last-ditch attempt to revive the proposal on the House floor — a move that is being described as smoking out and that would require it.” widespread support from House Republicans.”

Voting against Senate Bill 3 wasn’t the only action the House Committee took on cannabis this week. According to the Argus Leader newspaper, the committee has also “proposed a separate measure that would repeal portions of the medical marijuana law voters passed in 2020.”

The measure would eliminate language in the current medical cannabis statute that “allows individuals who are arrested for small amounts of cannabis without certification from the state Department of Health and Human Services to file a so-called ‘affirmative defence’ before a judge,” the agency said newspaper reported.

“In other words, marijuana possession charges can be dismissed by a court if a defendant can show they have conditions that qualify them for a medical marijuana card,” the Argus leader said.