A majority of South Dakotans oppose the latest attempt to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, according to a scientific poll of 500 registered voters co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch.
The state poll, also sponsored by the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota, showed that 52% of respondents are against the Initiated Measure 29, compared to 42% who support it and 7% who is undecided.
The rate of opposition is consistent with the defeat of a similar measure in the 2022 election, when South Dakotans voted against the legalization of recreational marijuana by a margin of 52% to 47%.
But the level of support has fallen, the poll found, creating a sizable deficit at a critical time when ballot measure committees are raising money and strategizing for the November 2024 elections.
“We believe the level of voter support for Measure 29 is higher than the figure in this latest poll,” said Matthew Schweich, executive director of South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, whose group spearheaded the petition effort.
Schweich points to the last presidential election in 2020, when the pro-legalization Amendment A passed with 54% of the vote, clearing the way for recreational marijuana to be implemented in the state. That year, voters also approved medical marijuana as an initiated measure.
South Dakota News Watch Chart
Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration questioned the 2020 recreational marijuana effort, saying it violated the state’s requirement that constitutional amendments address a single issue. That argument prevailed in a 4-1 decision in the South Dakota Supreme Court.
“It’s hard to explain how support could have fallen 12 percentage points in just four years,” Schweich said. “That kind of rapid decline in public support for cannabis legalization hasn’t happened in other states.”
Republican and Catholic leaders oppose the measure
In a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January, 57% of Americans said marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, while about a third (32%) said marijuana should be legal for medical use only. .
But a 2022 News Watch/Mason-Dixon poll of South Dakota voters found that 54% opposed the measure to legalize recreational marijuana. That poll figure was 2 points shy of the final electoral count (52%), as the measure was defeated that year.
Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy conducted the 2024 survey May 10-13. Interviewees were randomly selected from a state telephone-matched voter registration list that included landline and cell phone numbers. Quotas were allocated to reflect voter registration by county. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Initiated Measure 29 would allow people over the age of 21 to “possess, cultivate, ingest, and distribute marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia.” Possession of up to 2 ounces in a form other than marijuana concentrate or other marijuana products would be permitted.
The poll showed that nearly 7 in 10 Republicans (68%) in the state oppose the measure, compared to 24% of Democrats and 45% of unaffiliated voters.
The South Dakota Republican Party, at its 2024 convention June 6-8 in Pierre, passed a resolution urging “all members of the party and Republican organizations to provide whatever practical support they can to assist in the campaign to defeat Initiated Measure 29”.
In a joint statement released June 6, the bishops of South Dakota’s two Catholic dioceses also formalized their opposition to the measure, saying marijuana “contributes to a host of problems that weaken the social fabric of society.”
South Dakotans are ‘fiercely protective’
Recreational marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and supporters point to the economic benefits to the state economy from tax revenue. States collected nearly $3 billion in marijuana revenue in 2022, according to the Tax Foundation.
Opponents cite possible social costs and health risks, such as an increased risk of cardiovascular problems from marijuana use, as described in a recent study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Protecting South Dakota Kids, a campaign committee formed to fight recreational marijuana legalization in 2022, will actively oppose the effort again in 2024, said Rhonda Milstead, a former Republican state lawmaker who serves as the group’s executive director.
“When it comes to our children, South Dakotans are tremendously protective,” Milstead told News Watch. “We say no to any group that sells addictions for profit.”
Most experts characterize marijuana as a drug that can be used responsibly but also poses risks if abused, like alcohol and other toxic substances.
Expanded legalization has led to increased use, not just among adults. A federal government survey in 2019 found that about 32 million people ages 12 and older in the U.S. had used marijuana in the previous month, up from 22 million five years earlier.
‘The debate has already been had’
The petition drive for legalization was primarily funded by the Grow South Dakota Election Committee (with former state legislator Deb Peters as treasurer) and Puffy’s Dispensary, a medical cannabis operation based in West River.
Schweich acknowledged the potential for voter fatigue on an issue that will be on the South Dakota ballot for the third consecutive election cycle.
He told News Watch that he made a political miscalculation by returning to the issue in 2022 instead of “taking a breath” and waiting for 2024, a presidential election year with higher voter turnout than the midterms.
Different types of cannabis products are displayed for purchase at the Flower Shop Dispensary in Sioux Falls on September 5, 2022. Medical marijuana is currently legal in South Dakota.
(Photo by Argus Leader, via SD News Watch)
“My theory was that anger over the repeal of the amendment would cause a lot of voters who otherwise wouldn’t show up in the midterms to come out and vote,” said Schweich, who also runs Eagle Campaigns, a political campaign service in Sioux. Falls. “It was an ambitious theory and, unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way. It turns out that changing an electorate is very difficult.”
This time, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws will focus on get-out-the-vote efforts rather than trying to win “the hearts and minds” of voters on an issue they are well-versed in. after the 2020 and 2022 campaigns.
“We need to have a significant impact on the electorate in terms of who shows up to the polls,” Schweich said. “In many ways, the debate has already been had. Our destiny will be determined by the strength of our running game.”
The KeynoteUSA contributed to this story, which was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to receive stories as soon as they’re published. Contact Stu Whitney at stu.whitney@sdnewswatch.org
Keynote USA
For the Latest Local News, Follow Keynote USA Local on Twitter.