BY STU WHITNEY
PIERRE, SD (South Dakota News Watch) – 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.
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.
The 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 Measure 29 started.”
In a joint statement released June 6, the bishops of South Dakota’s two Catholic dioceses also formalized their opposition to the measure, saying that 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 revisiting the issue in 2022 instead of “taking a breath” and waiting for 2024, a presidential election year with higher voter turnout than the midterms.
“My theory was that anger over the amendment’s repeal would cause a large group 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 did not turn 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 know well after election campaigns. 2020 and 2022.
“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 held. “Our destiny will be determined by the strength of our running game.”
Sioux Falls voters oppose legalization
As expected, the News Watch/Chiesman poll showed that the youngest group surveyed (ages 18 to 34) was the most supportive of South Dakota’s recreational marijuana measure. But that age group even obtained 48% in favor and 48% against.
That’s a concern for Schweich and his group as they look for a solid foundation to stand on as the campaign seeks momentum. The 35-49 age group garnered 45% support, while the 50-64 and 65+ age groups garnered 38% support.
Another red flag for supporters is the fact that the poll showed 41% of Sioux Falls-area respondents were in favor of the measure and 53% were against it. Minnehaha County was a stronghold for legalization efforts in the last two cycles, with 60% voting yes on the 2020 amendment (which included medical marijuana) and 54% supporting the 2022 initiative.
Elsewhere in the state, West River respondents were most likely to oppose the measure (54%), while East River/South appointees were in favor and 48% opposed.
The breakdown by gender showed that 44% of female respondents supported and 48% opposed, compared to 39% supported and 56% opposed among male voters.
Respondents who said they plan to vote for President Joe Biden in the 2024 election were in favor of the legalization measure by 58%, compared to 37% against. Those who supported Republican candidate Donald Trump were in favor of the measure by 29% and against it by 64%.
The government seeks to reclassify marijuana
The federal government is taking steps to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, moving it from the Schedule I group (heroin, LSD, ecstasy) to the less regulated Schedule III (ketamine, anabolic steroids).
The review was initiated by Biden, who supports legalizing medical marijuana for use “when appropriate, based on medical and scientific evidence,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Most of the changes involve freeing up medical marijuana for clinical trials and easing tax regulation for marijuana-related businesses, Schweich said.
“I do not believe the proposed rescheduling will have a significant impact on our ability to pass Measure 29 initiated,” he told News Watch. “It is a fairly modest change and does not alleviate the stigma. “There will be positive effects from a business standpoint in South Dakota, but I don’t think it will have a widespread political effect.”
Other 2024 election measures (not surveyed)
Medicaid Work Requirement
Lawmakers also passed Senate Joint Resolution 501 during the 2024 session, an effort to amend the constitution to impose work requirements for Medicaid eligibility.
Supporters want to add a work requirement for adults who do not have physical or mental disabilities but are eligible for Medicaid under the expansion of the government-sponsored program that South Dakota voters approved in 2022. The measure would still need to be approved by the the federal government. government.
Opponents frame it as a rebuke to the will of voters and cite the state’s 2.1% unemployment rate, which ranks second-lowest in the country. “Who has Medicaid and isn’t working? I can answer that for you: You are the poorest of the poor,” said Democratic Rep. Kadyn Wittman of Sioux Falls.
References to government officials.
It is a legislative resolution from the 2023 session that proposes changing outdated male-only references to South Dakota’s governor and other officials in the state’s constitution and statutes. It’s a procedural update to the language that shouldn’t generate much, if any, opposition.
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
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