South Dakota Voters Approve Recreational And Medical Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measures
Kyle Jaeger
November 4, 2020
South Dakota voters have approved two ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes, according to projections from the Rapid City Journal.
SD Amendment A: Legalize Marijuana
Last updated: 11/4/2020, 1:54:14 AM
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
Yes 196,386 53.45%
No 171,036 46.55%
367,422 votes counted. Estimated >99% in.
Powered by
DDHQ
SD Measure 26: Medical Marijuana
Last updated: 11/4/2020, 1:54:14 AM
CANDIDATE VOTES PERCENT
Yes done 252,459 69.23%
No 112,202 30.77%
364,661 votes counted. Estimated >99% in.
Powered by
DDHQ
Results tracker sponsored by ETFMG | MJ.
The recreational measure, which is a constitutional amendment, will make it so people 21 and older will be able to possess and distribute up to one ounce of marijuana, and they will also be allowed to cultivate up to three cannabis plants. Upon formal passage, legalization will become the law on July 1, 2021. The Department of Revenue will be charged with developing licensing regulations by April 1, 2022.
The medical cannabis initiative will make a statutory change to allow patients suffering from debilitating conditions to possess and purchase up to three ounces of marijuana from a licensed dispensary. The state Department of Health will have until October 29, 2021 to enact regulations for the program and then must issue patient registration cards by November 18.
“No state has ever moved from marijuana prohibition to allowing both medical use and adult-use access, quite literally, overnight,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said. “These votes are a stunning rebuke to those elected officials that for decades have refused to move forward with substantive marijuana law reform legislation, and they are yet another indication of the near-universal popularity of these policy changes among voters in all regions of the United States.”
“The very reason South Dakotans went to the polls to decide on these issues is because elected officials like Gov. Noem consistently failed to act,” he added. “The majority of South Dakotans, like the majority of Americans, believe that physicians, not doctors, should be able to decide if medical cannabis is a proper course of medical treatment. And they do not believe that people, particularly young adults and people of color, ought to be criminalized and stigmatized for possessing small amounts of marijuana.”
...
