South Dakota voters will be asked again to decide on whether to legalize recreational marijuana and change state possession laws.
This is the third consecutive election cycle that South Dakota voters are asked whether recreational marijuana should be legal in the state.
Initiated Measure 29 aims to allow individuals 21 years of age or older to possess, grow, ingest, and distribute marijuana for recreational purposes.
Recreational marijuana was approved by South Dakota voters in 2020 but the measure was struck down by the courts for violating the state’s single-subject rule.
A similar but parsed-down measure was rejected by voters in 2022.
Matthew Schweich is the Executive Director for South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws. He said prohibition leads to greater addiction rates across all drug types.
“It is prohibition of cannabis that exposes people unnecessarily to harder drugs in our society. If we could shift cannabis out of the illicit market and put it into regulated businesses, we will reduce exposure to harder drugs that dealers are often offering people that just want to buy cannabis. So, if your concerned about the gateway, prohibition is the gateway and initiated measure 29 legalization, is reducing exposure to hard drugs in our society,” said Schweich.
He said 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, and none of those states have repealed the decision.
Opponents argue marijuana is a “gateway” to harsher drugs.
Rhonda Milstead is the Executive Director of Protecting South Dakota Kids. She said marijuana addiction is worse than other addictions for multiple reasons.
“To compare alcohol to marijuana, there is no comparison. Alcohol is water soluble. People take a drink and within two hours they flush it out of their system. Marijuana goes into the fat cells in your brain and it can last up to five to seven days. Marijuana causes psychosis, it causes violent reactions, you don’t know what it is going to do to you. Alcohol is different," said Milstead.
Milstead said the states that have legalized recreational marijuana have not progressed as they thought.
“Whenever they go and they fight for recreational marijuana to be legalized in the state, they are saying there is going to be this great revenue stream for the state. Well, in Colorado it’s a dollar in, four fifty out. The states that have legalized it aren’t finding this revenue. If they would, they would be paving their streets with gold. And what are they? Lining up tents on their streets. That’s what happens with marijuana,” said Milstead.
Legalization advocates said South Dakota has some of the harshest marijuana laws in the country.
Schweich said this isn’t what voters want.
“To tell people, go drink as much alcohol as you want, even though it is far more addictive and can actually kill you, and causes more violence and destructive behavior. But if somebody ingests cannabis, and fun fact, South Dakota is the only state in the entire country in which you can be prosecuted for having cannabis in your blood stream," said Schweich. "That is how severe our cannabis laws are in this state. If you caught with one gram of cannabis in South Dakota, in theory, you can face up to one year in prison. These are crazy laws that are completely at odds with people want in this state.”
Schweich said the measure only focuses on changing state possession laws to protect SD citizens. He said it would be up to the legislature to add any revenue additions or stipulations to the bill if they so choose.
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
You can find additional debate on this measure, as well as the other ballot questions facing South Dakota voters, by checking out the full Vote South Dakota forum. That’s available on SDPB's website and YouTube page.
