Governor Noem Discusses Cannabis Policy During Press Conference

Today, Governor Noem held a press conference and made comments about cannabis policy in South Dakota. She made a few remarks that we would like to respond to:

1. "Well I've always for years been supportive of medical marijuana. You know, even when I was back in Congress, I felt that would be appropriate if done correctly."

Back when she was a member of Congress, then-Representative Noem said she would support medical cannabis if the FDA approved it. That's not very strong support at all.

And she did not support Measure 26 in 2020. And last year, she tried to re-criminalize medical cannabis patients by delaying implementation of Measure 26 for an entire year (thankfully, after a strong grassroots campaign against the delay, the Legislature rejected her proposal).

2. "From my understanding, we basically already have recreational marijuana in South Dakota from what I understand is going on in some of our tribal lands. People can walk into a casino or facilities and purchase a prescription from a doctor and get in line and get marijuana."

This is inaccurate. We only know of one tribe with an active medical cannabis program and their medical card office is not located in their casino. For the rest of the state, personal possession of cannabis is technically punishable by up to one year in county jail.

3. She said that recreational bills in the Legislature "could be improved so we're talking about that."

We think this is encouraging because she did not say that she would veto a recreational cannabis legalization bill if it is passed by the Legislature.

4. When asked whether our 2022 cannabis legalization initiative would pass or not this November, she said: "I don't know if it will or not. I think that the more people are learning about marijuana and you know seeing it in our communities, that they'll make that determination. So I'm not certain if it will or not."

We are confident that, if necessary, we can defeat Governor Noem on the issue of cannabis legalization for a second time at the ballot box.