Voters in South Dakota try for a third time to approve recreational marijuana

On Saturday, March 23, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) organized a statewide “Petition Sign & Drive” event to gather support for a proposed 2024 cannabis legalization ballot measure. The initiative aims to collect 17,508 signatures by May 7 to qualify for the November 5th ballot.

The event is a collaboration between SDBML and Grow South Dakota, a statewide ballot question committee. In 2020, recreational marijuana for adult use passed with just over 50% of the vote. However, the South Dakota Supreme Court overturned the amendment as unconstitutional in November 2021. Simultaneously, medical marijuana passed with close to 70% support, but with implementation delays.

In 2022, another adult-use ballot measure was voted on but failed, when the voters rejected the initiative with 46%.

Kittrick Jeffries, CEO and Owner of Puffy’s Dispensary, says the SD Department of Health mentioned there were 90,000 adults that use marijuana, legally or illegally. He says, “Trying to make marijuana illegal is like trying to make the wind illegal. It’s impossible. You can’t do it because there will always be a supply of marijuana in South Dakota,” Jeffries asserted. “This allows a safe opportunity for them [legal adults] to have tested verified products for consumption…South Dakota is a very pro freedom state, and we want to make sure that everybody has that freedom.”