Press Release – May 25, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2022

Contact: 
Matthew Schweich
Campaign Director, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws

Press Release:

South Dakota Cannabis Legalization Initiative Officially Qualifies for the November 2022 Ballot

Initiated Measure 27 would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and over

Sioux Falls, SD — Today, the South Dakota Secretary of State informed South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws that its 2022 cannabis legalization initiated measure has officially qualified for the November 8, 2022 ballot.

The initiative required 16,961 valid signatures in order to qualify. The final tally from the Secretary of State, based on a sampling, was 25,023. 

In 2020, South Dakota became the first state in the country to legalize medical cannabis and adult-use cannabis on the same ballot. Following the election, Gov. Kristi Noem orchestrated a lawsuit that ultimately repealed the legalization law approved by 54% of voters. At the same time, she attempted but failed to severely delay implementation of the state’s medical cannabis law, approved by 70% of voters.

Matthew Schweich, campaign director for South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, issued the following statement:

“We are very pleased to hear that our initiative has qualified for the November ballot. We would first like to thank the tens of thousands of South Dakotans who took the time to sign our petition. And of course, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who made this signature drive possible.

“We are confident that we can achieve victory for the second consecutive election, pass Initiated Measure 27 by a strong margin, and restore the will of the people. But first, we must defeat Amendment C on June 7. Amendment C is a shameful and cowardly attack on the constitutional ballot initiative rights of the people of South Dakota.

“This convoluted proposal, created by politicians in Pierre, has the potential to cripple the initiative process and could even be used to undermine our 2022 cannabis legalization measure. We cannot allow politicians to get away with this. So between now and June 7, we will be 100% focused on crushing Amendment C at the polls.”

Amendment C, if approved by voters at the June 7 election, would require future ballot questions to receive 60% for passage if the ballot question creates a tax or fee or requires the state to appropriate $10 million or more in any of the first five fiscal years after enactment. 

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South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) is a registered South Dakota statewide ballot question committee.