With passage of a pair of ballot measures legalizing the use of marijuana by adults as well as medical patients this fall, the 2021 session of the South Dakota Legislature will feature lawmakers working through the steps to end decades of cannabis prohibition in our state.
South Dakota Chamber of Commerce President David Owen says there may be a legal challenge to Amendment A which legalized possession of marijuana for adults, but he is doubtful that it would succeed.
Owen says while South Dakota’s new laws protect the rights of employers to screen employees for THC use, a threat to those rights could be on the horizon at the federal level.
Owen says the South Dakota Legislative Research Council has concluded that, within the next four years and before administrative costs, Amendment A could generate as much as thirty million dollars in taxes annually.
The South Dakota Secretary of States Office reports that Amendment A passed in Yankton County by a margin of 55 to 45 percent with Initiated Measure 26 approved by local voters by a margin of 70 to 30 percent
