South Dakota Legislators Prepare Dozen of Cannabis Reform Laws |

Just weeks after the South Dakota Supreme Court rejected a voter-approved cannabis legalization initiative, state lawmakers will review more than two dozen cannabis policy reform bills in the new legislature beginning this month.

According to media reports, the legislature has already submitted at least 38 bills for the legislative period starting this month. Of these, at least two dozen of the bills deal with policies related to medical marijuana or adult cannabis.

Medical marijuana bills for examination

Many of the bills submitted to the legislature were drafted to implement Initiated Measure 26 (IM 26), a voting measure to legalize medical cannabis that was passed by voters in the November 2020 election. The rollout of the state’s new medical cannabis program has begun, with the state’s first medical marijuana ID issued in November 2021. Local governments have begun licensing medical cannabis dispensaries, although the state is not yet required to issue cultivation licenses.

IM 26 has given the legislature the power to enact the laws necessary to implement the measure. Last summer, an interim legislative study committee on marijuana held three meetings to measure a bill to implement the provisions of IM 26th ballot.

“I consider all the bills that go through the state’s Senate as ‘cleaning bills,'” Deutsch recently told reporters. “They are the result of the summer study and pretty much only low-hanging fruit, that’s how I imagine them. All of them passed in large numbers (in the committee). “

However, Deutsch pointed out that the proposed bills retain the spirit of the voter-approved vote.

“I want to give voters the opportunity to receive the medical marijuana program they voted for,” Deutsch said. “A robust medical program.”

One of the proposals, Senate Law 10, requires medical marijuana patients to provide identification when purchasing cannabis from pharmacies. Senate Bill 16 revises criminal law to allow legalized medical marijuana activities through IM 26, while Senate Bill 18 revises the authority over medical cannabis.

Recreational Marijuana Act filed in State Senate

Republican Senator Michael Rohl supports Senate Bill 3, a measure that legalizes the use of recreational cannabis by adults aged 21 and over. The bill also provides a system to regulate the production and sale of recreational marijuana.

“(The bill) is a compromise between eight members of the Senate and sixteen members of the House of Representatives,” said Republican Senator Michael Rohl, sponsor of the bill. “The bill would modernize our penal code and direct the Treasury Department to prepare to sell adult cannabis in South Dakota.”

Cannabis advocates, including Matthew Schweich, director of the Marijuana Policy Project, say it is high time to legalize recreational marijuana in South Dakota.

“The support we see in lawmakers for cannabis reform, which has never been seen in South Dakota at this level, is a sign that lawmakers are listening to their voters,” said Schweich. “You acknowledge that South Dakota voters are disappointed and angry with the state Supreme Court ruling on Amendment A.”

Adult cannabis ballot paper

Voters also approved Amendment A, a constitutional amendment to legalize adult cannabis, in the November 2020 election. However, Republican governor Kristi Noem denied the validity of the measure on technical grounds and supported a lawsuit to repeal the electoral measure approved by the voters.

In November 2021, the South Dakota Supreme Court rejected Amendment A, ruling that the proposal covered more than one piece of legislation, in violation of state rules on voter-led voting initiatives. Chief Justice Steven Jensen wrote, on behalf of the majority, that the vote clearly contained “provisions that encompassed at least three different subjects, each with different aims or purposes”.

After the court’s decision was announced, Noem used social media to express their support for the verdict.

“South Dakota is a place where the rule of law and our constitution are important, and that is what today’s decision on Amendment A is about,” Noem tweeted on November 24th. “We do things right – and how we do things is just as important as what you do. We are still subject to the rule of law.”

Noem’s views, however, do not match those of South Dakota voters. A poll in the state last month found that more than half of voters disapproved of the governor’s handling of cannabis policy, while only 39 percent said they supported their stance.

South Dakota MPs return to Pierre state capital on Tuesday, January 11th. The governor is expected to deliver her annual state speech on the same day at 12 p.m. Central Standard Time.