South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws have announced that they have surpassed the halfway mark in collecting signatures to place a marijuana legalization initiative on the state’s November ballot.
With a deadline of May 7, the campaign is intensifying its efforts, including setting up drive-thru signature collection stations in several cities.
Currently, they have about 12,500 signatures, but they emphasize that every signature is crucial.
This is the third attempt to legalize cannabis through a ballot initiative, with previous efforts in 2020 and 2022. The 2020 initiative was approved by voters but later invalidated by the state Supreme Court, while the 2022 initiative was rejected by voters.
The campaign has faced challenges, including confusion among voters who may have signed previous petitions. To address this, they have launched an online tool for voters to verify if they have signed the current petition. Despite initial uncertainty about funding, the campaign has decided to move forward, citing support from local medical cannabis businesses.
If successful, the initiative will still need to win over voters who rejected legalization in the last election.