Rick Steves, PBS Travel Host and Author, Endorses Initiated Measure 29

Rick Steves, popular public television host, best-selling guidebook author, and longtime supporter of cannabis legalization, has officially endorsed Initiated Measure 29. Rick worked to help legalize marijuana in his home state of Washington in 2012 and has since continued his support of the movement to end cannabis prohibition in other states, including the 2020 and 2022 efforts in South Dakota.

Along with his campaign efforts, Rick has been a member of NORML since 2003 and works closely with many advocacy groups and organizations whose missions fit his own, including Bread for the World. He has also provided $9 million in funding to build two neighborhood centers in his community and donated a 24-unit apartment building for homeless women and their children to his local YWCA.

Informed by his extensive travels throughout Europe and the world, Rick advocates for a pragmatic approach to recreational drugs, which measures success by harm reduction rather than incarceration. Regarding South Dakota’s Measure 29, Steves stated the following:

“It’s a smart and thoughtful law. This ballot measure isn’t pro-pot. It’s anti-prohibition, anti-illicit market, and pro-civil liberties. I helped legalize marijuana in my state, Washington in 2012. We have a track record now, and we’re glad we did. 23 other states have legalized marijuana, and they’re glad they did too. And now, it’s South Dakota’s turn.”

Measure 29 could take cannabis off the streets and into regulated, tax-paying South Dakota businesses. Dealers don’t check IDs or test the products they sell, placing South Dakotans at risk. Marijuana is already here and we’ve seen the failures of prohibition firsthand. It’s time for a new policy, and Rick Steves agrees.

Vote Yes on Initiated Measure 29.