South Dakotans prepare to vote to legalize marijuana, fearmongering ads hit the airwaves

In less than a month, voters in South Dakota will decide whether or not to support the legalization of recreational marijuana, i.e. Measure 27, a initiative regarding the list of voting questions for the November 2022 elections.< /p> Background:

In May, the South Dakota Secretary of State added Measure 27 to the list of ballot questions, giving voters another chance to have their say on the legal status of cannabis for adult use. However, two Sioux Falls officials recently expressed concerns about the plant's legal status.

Mayor Paul TenHaken pointed out three "myths" coming from the cannabis activists behind Measure 27, saying he strongly disagrees with the fact that the prisons of the state are full of people convicted of cannabis. He argues that crime rates would not go down if marijuana were legal, but rather the opposite.

South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws

This time, via a new ad, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) pointed out that "politicians used a legal technicality to overturn the law," making reference to a lawsuit supported by the government office. Kristi Noem (R) who led to the state Supreme Court overturning the voter-approved initiative on procedural grounds because it determined the measure violated the single-subject rule, as the reported Marijuana Moment.

“We are still clogging up our courts and wasting police resources on marijuana arrests instead of focusing on real crimes and seriously ill people, including veterans with PTSD and cancer patients who still have struggling to access medical marijuana," the ad reads. "We can restore the will of the people, fight crime and end the suffering by voting yes on Measure 27."

In addition, SDBML announced last week that it was launching a 10-day state tour to register voters and educate the electorate on the initiative.

Protecting the Children of South Dakota

Meanwhile, opponents are running an ad that clearly stokes fear among parents. It opens with a video of children and the narrator says "these are future drug addicts, future suicide victims, future impaired driver victims".

"It's the future with Measure 27 launched. It would legalize drugs known to cause depression and suicide, drugs that put dangerous users on our roads, hurting those who are the most vulnerable," says the un d. “If we don't act now, it would be open season on our kids. Don't put their future at risk. Vote no on measure 27 initiated."

The scaremongering sponsor organization, Protecting South Dakota Kids, presented a panoply of negative results that they claim would introduce legalization. Representatives of the organization, including its president James Kinyon, retired highway patrolman Ed Moses and Kristi "Cricket" Palmer recently spoke at an event.

"Children are not protected with this," Moses said, also expressing concerns about medical marijuana, which was legalized about two years ago. "It can cause a permanent decline in intelligence. It also interferes with the exchange of information between neurons."