Press Release – October 16, 2024

For Immediate Release
October 16, 2024

Contact:
Matthew Schweich
South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws
Executive Director
(605) 610-8396
info@southdakotamarijuana.org

PRESS RELEASE:

South Dakota State-Tribal Relations Committee Recognizes Potential Benefits of IM29

Legislative Committee Acknowledges Potential Benefit to State-Tribal Relations if Measure 29 is Approved by Voters

Sioux Falls, SD – Late last week, the South Dakota State-Tribal Relations Committee passed the following determination recognizing Initiated Measure 29’s potential benefits for state-tribal relations in South Dakota:

“Measure 29 could positively impact tribal relations by growing economic development, reducing underage access, and eliminating jurisdictional enforcement challenges.”

The determination was motioned by Senator Michael Rohl and seconded by Representative Peri Pourier, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and passed in a 5-2 vote. Representative Pourier and Senator Red Dawn Foster were the two nay votes because they are awaiting the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s position on the 2024 ballot questions.

Chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Peter Lengkeek, gave a powerful testimony in front of the state-tribal relations legislative committee, emphasizing the positive impacts the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has witnessed first-hand after adopting a cannabis legalization policy. Lengkeek told the committee that the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe has a revenue allocation plan in place that would allocate 20% of the cannabis revenue toward public housing and another 10% to an elderly facility. Lengkeek also shared that the local clinic has seen a 19% decrease in painkiller dependence since the tribe made efforts to regulate cannabis.

Bryce In The Woods, Council Representative for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe also testified, emphasizing that cannabis legalization can provide economic opportunities for the tribes including jobs and skill building. 

Matthew Schweich, Executive Director for South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, made a presentation to the committee as the proponent of Initiated Measure 29, saying:

“Right now, the state maintains a policy of prohibition that needlessly aggravates community relations. The state maintains a policy that has resulted in the prejudicial treatment of non-white residents in virtually every state in the country including South Dakota. The state maintains a policy that creates the opportunity for interference with tribal autonomy. So, my position is simple – legalization of cannabis will improve state-tribal relations in South Dakota.” 

The meeting was opened up to committee comments. Senator Shawn Bordeaux, representing District 26A, stated:

“Yankton [Sioux Tribe] has also approved recreational marijuana, but try stepping into the road and all of a sudden you’re on state land. That’s a problem… As soon as you come onto state land, which is maybe a block and a half, all of sudden you’re breaking the law….The state and the tribes have got to be one on this issue for all of South Dakota. We can’t be having these issues that are depending on if you’re on trust land.”

Schweich also noted that the Oglala Sioux Revenue Office reported a $1.3 million cannabis sales revenue in the first two quarters of tribal legalization in 2022, generating about $165,000 in tax revenue. That revenue provides resources for community safety and development as well as revenue for Native American entrepreneurs – a group that has historically missed out on cannabis legalization revenue in recent decades. 

# # #