Legalization Supporters Can Now Collect Signatures in South Dakota

On Thursday, supporters of a proposed South Dakota measure to legalize recreational marijuana received a proverbial green light from the state’s attorney general and can now begin collecting the necessary signatures to place their initiative on the 2018 ballot.

A perennial underdog in the Mount Rushmore State, backers of the adult-use initiative will need to submit approximately 14,000 valid signatures by November 6, 2017, to be considered by South Dakota’s voters during the 2018 General Election.

“An initiated measure to legalize all quantities of marijuana and to make other changes to State law involving marijuana,” South Dakota’s Attorney General published in the official explanation that will be circulated on the petitions.

According to South Dakota’s Attorney General, the 2018 initiative would modify the following:

• This measure legalizes all quantities of marijuana possession and distribution under State law as well as marijuana paraphernalia. People under 21 who possess or use marijuana are subject to restrictions. The measure removes certain references to marijuana from statutes prohibiting driving and boating while intoxicated.
• A parent’s…