South Dakota Cannabis Reform Advocates File Potential 2022 Ballot Initiatives

Statement from South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws
July 2, 2021
South Dakota Cannabis Reform Advocates File Potential 2022 Ballot Initiatives

Today, Brendan Johnson, Melissa Mentele, and Tim Billion filed five ballot initiatives with the South Dakota Legislative Research Council for review. This is the first step towards qualifying initiatives for the 2022 ballot. However, if Amendment A is fully restored by the South Dakota Supreme Court, then the three sponsors will not advance the initiatives.

Four of the initiatives are cannabis legalization initiatives that take different approaches to the policy -- only one of them would ultimately advance to the ballot. The fifth initiative would repeal South Dakota's ballot initiative single subject rule.

The three initiative sponsors have played important roles in the years-long effort to reform South Dakota's cannabis laws.

Mentele was the author and sponsor of Measure 26, the medical cannabis ballot initiative approved by 70% of voters last year. She is the executive director of New Approach South Dakota and also served as the campaign manager for Measure 26.

Johnson, a former U.S. Attorney, was the sponsor of Amendment A, the marijuana legalization initiative approved by 54% of South Dakota voters last year.

Johnson and Billion, lawyers with the firm Robins Kaplan, have served as the lead attorneys working to defend Amendment A in court against the lawsuit spearheaded by Governor Noem. In February, a South Dakota circuit court judge ruled that Amendment A was unconstitutional. Advocates appealed to the South Dakota Supreme Court, which has not yet issued a final ruling.

QUOTES:

"I'm proud to be a sponsor of these initiatives because they represent the will of the voters. South Dakotans support cannabis legalization. If Amendment A is repealed, then we need to be prepared to put legalization on the ballot again."
-- Melissa Mentele

"If Amendment A is fully restored by the South Dakota Supreme Court, then we would not move forward with these initiatives. If Amendment A is struck down, then we want the option of returning to the ballot next year. We are filing these initiatives now because the deadline for completing a signature drive is quickly approaching.

"We remain hopeful that the South Dakota Supreme Court will make the right decision and restore Amendment A. However, we need to be prepared for any potential outcome. These four cannabis legalization initiatives represent different approaches that could accommodate different rulings in the Amendment A case. Only one would be advanced to the ballot.

"While the single subject rule is a good idea in theory, it can be abused in practice. Depending on the ruling in the Amendment A case, it may be necessary to consider repealing the single subject rule if it presents a long-term impediment to future ballot initiatives in South Dakota. We don't think that politicians should be using lawsuits to repeal the will of the people.

"South Dakota has one of the earliest deadlines in the country for submitting signatures to qualify an initiative for the ballot. For the 2022 election, the deadline is November 8 of this year. Before we can circulate petitions and collect signatures, the initiatives must go through a review and approval process with the Legislative Research Council, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State. Now is the time to get the ball rolling for 2022. Hopefully, it isn't necessary."
-- Matthew Schweich, deputy director, Marijuana Policy Project, and campaign director, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws

BACKGROUND:

South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws and its affiliates (SDBML) passed Amendment A and Measure 26 last year, played a central role in the grassroots campaign to defend Measure 26 during the legislative session earlier this year, and have provided fundraising and communications support to the Amendment A legal defense campaign.

New Approach South Dakota (NASD) is the state's longstanding grassroots cannabis reform advocacy organization and has been played an important role in every major cannabis reform victory in South Dakota.

The Marijuana Policy Project and New Approach PAC, the two leading national organizations for state-level cannabis reform, have provided substantial guidance and support to SDBML and NASD since the fall of 2019.

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