(C) South Dakota Searchlight
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Marijuana legalization fails in unofficial South Dakota results • South Dakota Searchlight [1]
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Date: 2024-11-06
A ballot measure to legalize adult recreational marijuana use in South Dakota was losing in unofficial results.
The tally was 56% against Initiated Measure 29 and 44% in favor at 4 p.m. Central time Wednesday, with 95% of statewide precincts fully reported.
The measure would not have legalized marijuana sales. That would have required later legislative action.
Initiated Measure 29 would have provided the groundwork by legalizing for adults 21 and older the possession, use and free distribution of up to 2 ounces of marijuana.
South Dakota voters previously rejected recreational marijuana in 2022.
In 2020, voters passed a constitutional amendment legalizing both recreational and medical marijuana, but it was overturned in court for violating the state constitution’s single-subject rule for ballot measures. A separate medical marijuana initiative that passed in 2020 laid the groundwork for the state’s current program.
Thirty-eight states allowed medical marijuana prior to Tuesday, and 24 and the District of Columbia allowed recreational pot. The federal government is considering a change that would reclassify cannabis as a less harmful drug under federal law.
A representative of the campaign against Initiated Measure 29 celebrated the measure’s defeat Wednesday morning.
“We are thrilled and grateful for eyes being opened to the overwhelming harms of marijuana that try to sneak in as benign,” said Rhonda Milstead of the Protecting South Dakota Kids committee. “With South Dakota, North Dakota and Florida all defeating their measures as well as Oklahoma two years ago, perhaps other states will have the courage to push back and bring health and safety back to their communities.”
At a polling place Tuesday, Kenya Mejia, of Sioux Falls, said she voted against marijuana legalization. She was born and raised in California, she said, and believes legalization in her home state has led to more crime and drug abuse.
“I go back every year, and things just keep getting worse,” she said.
Patty Kuehn, also of Sioux Falls, said she voted in favor of legalization because it makes more sense to regulate the drug than leave it to the black market.
“I believe there should be legal choices that are safe,” Kuehn said.
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