Voters in South Dakota will have the opportunity to legalize recreational marijuana in just 19 weeks, on November 5.
Measure 29, sponsored by South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML), would make the possession and cultivation of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. The initiative would also establish a licensed, regulated and taxed system of marijuana businesses, including retail outlets.
Possession limits would be set at two ounces of marijuana dried marijuana, 16 grams of marijuana concentrates, and “Cannabis products, other than concentrated cannabis, containing one thousand six hundred milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol.”
According to polling released earlier this year, a plurality of voters in the state support legalizing marijuana, 45% to 42%, with 13% undecided, indicating it could be a close election.
The state has a history with marijuana legalization. In 2020, SDBML successfully put a similar marijuana legalization initiative to a vote. It was passed by voters with 54% support. However, due to a technicality in the initiative’s language, the measure was overturned by state courts.
Two years later, in 2022, the group once again placed a legalization initiative on the state’s ballot, this time with updated language to address the court’s issues. Amid lower voter turnout, given it was not a presidential election, the initiative received just 47% support and failed to be enacted into law.
For the full text of the bill, click here.
