With his state reeling amid one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the nation, the last thing South Dakota Speaker of the House Steven Haugaard wants to be dealing with during the upcoming legislative session is marijuana. But the state鈥檚 voters haven鈥檛 left the Republican much choice.
This fall, South Dakota became the first state in the U.S. to legalize both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana in the same election. Haugaard, who long opposed any form of marijuana legalization, now must participate in the creation of a medical marijuana program.
South Dakota voters enshrined legal marijuana in the state鈥檚 constitution. So if Haugaard had any thoughts about reversing the initiative once lawmakers reconvene on Jan. 12, they鈥檝e been dashed.
鈥淲ith a constitutional amendment, there鈥檚 really not much we can do about it. It鈥檚 written in stone until it鈥檚 repealed,鈥 Haugaard said.
South Dakota is one of a handful of states in which voters both approved marijuana ballot questions and elected Republicans to lead state governments. Montana and Arizona, two other states in which Republicans control (or will soon control) the governor鈥檚 office and legislature, also backed recreational marijuana at the ballot box. Mississippi passed a measure legalizing medical marijuana.
New Jersey, which has a Democratic governor and Democratic-majority legislature, also passed a recreational marijuana ballot question.
Many conservative lawmakers oppose the legalization of marijuana, an illegal drug under federal law. But they are discovering obstacles to simply passing bills to reverse the initiatives when state legislatures return to work in January. Some marijuana opponents, realizing the limitations to altering a constitutional amendment, are turning to the courts or local officials to undo the measures or at least blunt the effects of legal pot.
Before the November election, 11 states and Washington, D.C., had legalized recreational marijuana, most of them left-leaning states, with exceptions like Alaska. An additional 21 states allow medical marijuana. In the wake of the election, 15 states will have legalized recreational marijuana and 35 will allow medical marijuana.
In conservative states like Montana, where passage of a bill can change or negate a ballot initiative, one thing giving lawmakers pause is that many voters who elected them also approved the legalization of marijuana use for adults 21 and up.
In Montana, 57% of voters approved the recreational marijuana initiative 鈥 the same share received by President Donald Trump. In South Dakota, 54% voted for recreational marijuana and a whopping 70% approved medical marijuana. In Arizona, the recreational pot proposition also passed easily.
Those kinds of margins are what caused state Rep. Derek Skees to reconsider a bill he was drafting to repeal the Montana ballot measure in anticipation of its passage.
Skees that after it became clear voters supported it 鈥 while also supporting Republican candidates for office up and down the ballot 鈥 he decided to shelve it.
“There’s no way I’m going to try to overturn the will of Montana,” Skees told the newspaper.
Haugaard said opposition to the South Dakota measure was derailed by the pandemic and voters never got the message from opponents about the potential negative impacts of legalization.
Proponents of legalization spent nearly $800,000 on their campaign in South Dakota 鈥 , a pro-legalization group that works across the country 鈥 and five times what opponents of ballot measures raised.
Colorado, the first state to allow recreational use of marijuana in 2014, is often held up as the poster child for what can happen. Proponents say the state has benefited from increased tax income and economic activity. But opponents, including Haugaard, since legalization to explain why they think it鈥檚 a bad idea.
鈥淭hat side of the story wasn鈥檛 told and had it been told I think this vote would have gone differently,鈥 Haugaard said.
Marijuana opponents aren鈥檛 waiting to see what state lawmakers do, if anything 鈥 they鈥檙e going to court. The Pennington County, South Dakota, sheriff and the superintendent of the South Dakota Highway Patrol have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the marijuana amendment. The , and that the state was paying for part of the suit. Noem was a vocal opponent of legalization during the campaign.
Should the legal challenge fail, the amendment is scheduled to take effect July 1 and, according to the governor鈥檚 office, it will be up to the state health department to implement it. The legislature will have more control over how the medical marijuana program will work. Haugaard said that will be a big focus of the 37-day session.
Opponents in Montana are also asking the courts to disallow recreational marijuana. Steve Zabawa, a Billings car dealer who has campaigned against legalized marijuana for years, said in his lawsuit that what the voters passed would illegally take power from state lawmakers by designating where tax revenue will go.
Zabawa blamed its passage at the ballot box on pro-marijuana advocacy groups that so outraised and outspent opponents of the measure that he compared it to David and Goliath.
鈥淭hey candy-coated this deal. They lied to the entire state of Montana by saying that this would benefit veterans and fish and wildlife,鈥 Zabawa said. 鈥淭hey crossed a line and we鈥檙e calling them on it.鈥
Zabawa said that if the courts don鈥檛 block recreational marijuana, he鈥檚 hopeful that Montana鈥檚 Republican-controlled Statehouse will stymie its implementation.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a lot of love for marijuana in Montana,鈥 Zabawa said.
In Arizona, a recreational marijuana ballot measure was rejected by voters just four years ago. This year it passed by a wide margin. The state鈥檚 voters also chose Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, the first time a Democrat won the presidential election in the state since 1996.
It鈥檚 unlikely Arizona鈥檚 Republican-led legislature can do anything to stop implementation without a three-quarters majority.
State lawmakers鈥 hands may be tied, but the initiative did give municipalities some power to restrict its use. The day after the initiative passed, that would limit which type of businesses could sell marijuana and prohibited its use in public places.
The declaration was based on language written by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns and given to members prior to Election Day.
One of the major backers of the state ballot measures is the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that supports sweeping marijuana policy changes across the country. Deputy Director Matthew Schweich said this election showed how the public鈥檚 opinion on marijuana is rapidly evolving.
Schweich said he believes the results of the 2020 election bode well for future legalization efforts in states and even at the federal level. Because of that growing support, he dismissed any chance Montana or South Dakota could derail recreational legalization but added that his organization will do whatever it can to fight those efforts.
鈥淭his is a bipartisan issue [and] I think we鈥檙e at a tipping point. We鈥檝e passed it in big states and small states, liberal states and conservative states,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e feeling pretty good. We believe that 2021 is our year.鈥
