2022 Cannabis Scorecard News Recap
On March 30th, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML), in partnership with the Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota (CIASD) and New Approach South Dakota (NASD), released the 2022 South Dakota Legislature Cannabis Scorecard.
The Scorecard analyzed 68 votes on significant cannabis bills during the 2022 legislative session in Pierre and assigned each legislator a grade based on their voting record.
CANNABIS GRADES
A+
HOUSE:
Rep. Aaron Aylward (District 6), Rep. Erin Healy (District 14), Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt (District 14), Rep. Oren Lesmeister (District 28A), Rep. Tom Pischke (District 25), Rep. Jennifer Keintz (District 1), Rep. Peri Pourier (District 27), Rep. Linda Duba (District 15), Rep. Jamie Smith (District 15), Rep. Ryan Cwach (District 18)
SENATE:
Sen. Michael Rohl (District 1), Sen. Troy Heinert (District 26), Sen. Reynold Nesiba (District 15), Sen. Red Dawn Foster (District 27)
A
HOUSE:
Rep. Jess Olson (District 34), Rep. Tamara St. John (District 1), Rep. Sydney Davis (District 17), Rep. Drew Dennert (District 3)
SENATE:
Sen. Herman Otten (District 6), Sen. David Wheeler (District 22), Sen. Kyle Schoenfish (District 19)
A-
HOUSE:
Rep. Shawn Bordeaux (District 26A), Rep. Ernie Otten (District 6), Rep. Richard Thomason (District 13), Rep. Roger Chase (District 22), Rep. Larry Tidemann (District 7)
SENATE:
Sen. Erin Tobin (District 21), Sen. David Johnson (District 33), Sen. Marsha Symens (District 25), Sen. Timothy Johns (District 31)
B+
HOUSE:
Rep. Greg Jamison (District 12), Rep. Arch Beal (District 12), Rep. Becky Drury (District 32), Sen. Casey Crabtree (District 8)
SENATE:
Sen. Jack Kolbeck (District 13), Sen. V.J. Smith
B
HOUSE:
Rep. Will Mortenson (District 24), Rep. Mike Derby (District 34), Rep. Lynn Schneider (District 22), Rep. Mike Weisgram (District 24)
SENATE:
Sen. Blake Curd (District 12), Sen. Michael Diedrich (District 34)
B-
HOUSE:
Rep. Dean Wink (District 29), Rep. Mark Willadsen (District 11)
SENATE:
Sen. Arthur Rusch (District 17)
C+
HOUSE:
Rep. Kent Peterson (District 19), Rep. Tim Reed (District 7), Rep. Kirk Chaffee (District 29), Rep. Lance Koth (District 20)
SENATE:
Sen. Wayne Steinhauer (District 9), Sen. Larry Zikmund (District 14)
C
HOUSE:
Rep. Sam Marty (District 28B), Rep. Scott Odenbach (District 31), Rep. Hugh Bartels (District 5), Rep. Charlie Hoffman (District 23), Rep. Chris Johnson (District 32), Rep. Liz May (District 27)
SENATE:
Sen. Ryan Maher (District 28), Sen. Bryan Breitling (District 23)
C-
HOUSE:
Rep. Rocky Blare (District 21), Rep. Marty Overweg (District 19), Rep. Carl Perry (District 3)
SENATE:
Sen. Jessica Castleberry (District 35), Sen. Brock Greenfield (District 2), Sen. Jean Hunhoff (District 18), Sen. Gary Cammack (District 29), Sen. Mary Duvall (District 24)
D+
HOUSE:
Rep. Tina Mulally (District 35), Rep. Paul Miskimins (District 20), Rep. Sue Peterson (District 13), Rep. Kaleb Weis (District 2), Rep. Taffy Howard (District 33), Rep. Rebecca Reimer (District 26B), Rep. Tim Goodwin (District 30), Rep. Randy Gross (District 8), Rep. Chris Karr (District 11), Rep. Tony Randolph (District 35)
SENATE:
Sen. Joshua Klumb (District 20)
D
HOUSE:
Rep. Spencer Gosch (District 23), Rep. Mike Stevens (District 18), Rep. Phil Jensen (District 33), Rep. David Anderson (District 16), Rep. Richard Vasgaard (District 17), Rep. Caleb Finck (District 21)
SENATE:
Sen. Helene Duhamel (District 32), Sen. Jim Stalzer (District 11), Sen. Al Novstrup (District 3)
D-
HOUSE:
Rep. Trish Ladner (District 30), Rep. Bethany Soye (District 9), Rep. Nancy York (District 5), Rep. Doug Barthel (District 10), Rep. Steven Haugaard (District 10)
SENATE:
Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller (District 30), Sen. John Wiik (District 4), Sen. Jim Bolin (District 16), Sen. Lee Schoenbeck (District 5)
F
HOUSE:
Rep. Lana Greenfield (District 2), Rep. John Mills (District 4), Rep. Mary Fitzgerald (District 31), Rep. Rhonda Milstead (District 9), Rep. Fred Deutsch (District 4), Rep. Jon Hansen (District 25), Rep. Marli Wiese (District 8), Rep. Kevin Jensen (District 16)
SENATE:
Sen. Maggie Sutton (District 10)
EXPLANATION OF THE SCORECARD
The Scorecard includes 68 votes in House committees, Senate committees, the full House, and the full Senate over the course of the 2022 legislative session in Pierre.
The Cannabis Score is calculated based each bill’s "Impact Score" which represents the degree to which the legislation would positively or negatively affect cannabis policies in South Dakota.
If the legislator supported the position taken by CIASD/NASD/SDBML, then the legislator was awarded a positive number of points equal to the Impact Score. Conversely, if the legislator opposed the position taken by CIASD/NASD/SDBML (Row 6), then the legislator was awarded a negative number of points equal to the Impact Score.
The "Cannabis Grade" correlates to thirteen equal intervals of the range of Cannabis Scores (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-. F).
MEDIA COVERAGE
Our Scorecard, which was released on March 30th, made waves within the South Dakota media and was covered by multiple news outlets around the state. We have compiled a list of the news articles below:
KELO: “Expect recreational marijuana back on ballot in South Dakota”
Dakota News Now: “Cannabis organizations release the 2022 South Dakota Legislature Cannabis Scorecard”
KEVN: “SD cannabis organizations release legislative report card”
Bezinga: “These Are The Most And Least Cannabis-Friendly Legislators In South Dakota”
KOTA: “SD cannabis organizations release legislative report card”
Dakota Free Press: “Aylward, Rohl, and Democrats Get Highest Marijuana Grades on 2022 Votes; GOP Social Control Freaks Get Lowest”
April 1 – SDBML Campaign Director discusses Scorecard and Legislative Session with the South Dakota Standard
SDBML campaign director Matthew Schweich was interviewed by South Dakota Standard journalist Tom Lawrence to discuss the 2022 legislative session as well as the recently published 2022 Cannabis Scorecard.
Schweich told Lawrence that it was a successful year in Pierre for SDBML and its allies.
“Cannabis reform advocates defeated bills that would have repealed the affirmative defense for medical cannabis patients, repealed home cultivation by cannabis patients, outlawed medical cannabis edibles, and enabled local governments to completely ban all medical cannabis businesses,” said Schweich.
Advocates also pointed to the passage of SB 26 as an important victory. This legislation will improve access to medical cannabis cards by allowing physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses (in addition to doctors) to write medical cannabis recommendations for qualifying patients.
Read the full article here:
The South Dakota Standard: “South Dakota cannabis advocates endured rough 2022 legislative session; grade lawmakers on pot policies”