Gov. Kristi Noem floats bill to decriminalize marijuana in South Dakota

[DonViejo]

Source: USA Today/Sioux Falls Argus Leader


Joe Sneve
Sioux Falls Argus Leader

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Gov. Kristi Noem's administration is considering legislation that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in South Dakota.

Lawmakers this week got a first look at potential legislation coming out of the governor's office that limits the number of plants a medical marijuana user could grow in their home, while also ending South Dakota's practice of incarcerating adults caught using or possessing marijuana for recreational purposes.

A draft of the measure obtained by the Argus Leader shows Noem calls for decriminalizing the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana or 8 grams of marijuana concentrate. It would still be against the law to possess or use marijuana without a medically qualifying condition in South Dakota, but a first offense would be a petty offense and not subject to jail time for people over 21.

Subsequent offenses would be a class 2 misdemeanor, a less severe charge than the class 1 status of marijuana possession on the books today.



Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/24/gov-kristi-noem-proposes-decriminalizing-marijuana-south-dakota/6980413002/

[AZLD4Candidate]

1. Profiles in Cowardice. If you're going to decriminalize it (notice not legalize), do it

Noem's ideas still give police the power of arrest, and still give people criminal records.

Enough of the Nixon/Reagan War on the Constitution (er, drugs). Prohibition didn't work and people have been using these substances for all of human history. Stop criminalizing a physical illness.

[IronLionZion]

2. If your people are dying of COVID

might as well let them get high without locking them up

[keithbvadu2]

3. Headline: Mj decrim fails. Supporters forgot to go vote for it.

Headline: Mj decrim fails. Supporters forgot to go vote for it.

It's a yoke, folks.

[Schmice3]

4. Opium is the religion of the people

[Turbineguy]

5. To make room in jails

for liberals.

[Warpy]

6. In related news, Gov. Lujan-Grisham has called the NM lege back into session

since bickering over details in a recreational cannabis bill caused them to punt it--again. I think she'll keep them away from their real jobs until they do pass something. It can always be modified later.

[marble falls]

7. So the anti-taxer wants to use pot to raise some tax revenue. I want some of what she smokes ...

... decriminalization is her back door to legalizing it.

[Akoto]

8. I'm a ways south, in FL. Supposed to start medical MJ next month...

It's a little scary, honestly, just because of the public perspective among other things. Heck, I'm taking it because a physical disability is causing me pain that pharmaceutical pain management isn't adequately helping, and my own parents say I'll have to move out if I'm going to use it - in any form. So, that'll be another first, living alone without help.

They just can't be made to see that the regulated medical marijuana is safe. I can't imagine some states fully legalizing for anyone to use when FL has legalized medicinally and you still need an expensive (for me) license, etc.