Since before the November 2020 general election, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, R, has openly campaigned against any legalization of cannabis. However, South Dakota citizens are saying otherwise. During the 2020 election, Amendment A, which would legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 and over, received 54 percent of the vote. Additionally, IM 26, which legalized medical cannabis, received nearly 70 percent of the vote. This made South Dakota the first state to legalize both medical and recreational cannabis.
In response to the election results, Governor Noem said, “I don’t think anybody got smarter smoking pot.”
South Dakota Cannabis
However, Governor Noem has spoken out against both Amendment A and IM 26. For Amendment A, she backed the two plaintiffs, Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom and South Dakota Highway Patrol Superintendent Rick Miller, who said Amendment A is unconstitutional. Activists appealed the circuit court judge’s decision and took the case to the Supreme Court. Justices heard the arguments at the end of April, but have yet to release an opinion on the situation.
Regarding IM 26, Governor Noem introduced HB 1100, which would delay the implementation of medical cannabis for an extended period of time. She claimed the state needed more time to get a system in place before implementing the medical market. The House of Representatives agreed and approved the bill for medical cannabis delay. However, activists remained concerned that the delay would allow Governor Noem time to overturn the measure and take away medical cannabis the people had voted for.
But a stalemate between the House and the Senate ended HB 1100, leaving IM 26 to begin on time. Even though medical cannabis is legal in South Dakota, there is still no sales happening outside of indeginous tribes. Tribes work separately from the state’s government and have been issuing medical cannabis cards to those who have prescriptions from licensed physicians.
Both Governor Noem and the state’s Attorney General have spoken against sales for non-indeginous tribe members. However no action has been taken against tribes doing so.
Similarities
The situation in South Dakota isn’t the first time a governor has pushed against a citizens’ approved measure. Maine’s former governor, Paul LePage, R, who describes himself as “Donald Trump before Donald Trump,” opposed the voter approved recreational cannabis measure in 2016. When he received the bill from the legislature, he vetoed it, stopping a legal market from creating revenue for the state. It wasn’t until 2020, four years after voters legalized recreational cannabis, that a market began in the state. This only became possible when Governor LePage was voted out of office in 2018. He plans to run for governor again in 2022.
Future
Governors like Noem and LePage are pushing back against what citizens vote for. It’s becoming more and more common across the U.S., and activists are speaking out against it. Measures are cropping up across the country for cannabis legalization. They don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
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