Marijuana legalization measure validated for Nov. 5 election

Luke Tuttle collects signatures at the Minnehaha County Administration Building on April 18, 2024, for an initiated measure that would let voters decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana in South Dakota. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

A petition that would legalize adult recreational marijuana use in South Dakota has enough signatures from registered voters to be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot, according to the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office.

The office made the announcement Monday, triggering a 30-day window for challenges to the petition’s validity.

It’s the sixth statewide ballot measure to qualify for the general election, pending potential challenges. Four of the measures are citizen-initiated and two were placed on the ballot by the Legislature.

The marijuana ballot measure would allow people 21 and older to possess, grow, ingest and distribute marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia, with some restrictions. Among those are a possession limit of 2 ounces and a maximum number of six plants per person or 12 per household.

Twenty-four states have legalized recreational marijuana. South Dakota voters approved it in 2020, along with the legalization of medical marijuana . But the recreational portion of that ballot measure was challenged in court and invalidated, while medical marijuana legalization proceeded.

The new measure needed 17,508 signatures from South Dakota registered voters to qualify for the ballot. Based on a random sample, the Secretary of State’s Office estimated that petitioners collected 22,558 valid signatures.

Ballot question status update

Measures placed on the Nov. 5 ballot by the Legislature:

• An amendment to the state constitution updating references to certain officeholders and people (replacing male-specific pronouns with neutral language).
• An amendment to the state constitution authorizing the state to impose work requirements on certain people who are eligible for expanded Medicaid.

Citizen-proposed measures validated for the ballot, pending potential challenges:

• An initiated measure prohibiting state sales taxes on items sold for human consumption, specifically targeting state sales taxes on groceries.
• An initiated amendment to the state constitution re-establishing abortion rights.
• An initiated amendment to the state constitution establishing open primary elections.
• An initiated measure legalizing adult recreational use, possession and distribution of marijuana.

Petition still in circulation:

• A proposed referendum of a new law regulating carbon dioxide pipelines (the deadline to submit referendum petitions is June 25).

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