Campaign to ease South Dakota marijuana laws kicks off

Amy Hawes signs a marijuana petition les at Big’s Sports Bar in Sioux Falls, S.D. Wednesday, July 29, 2015. South Dakotans Against Prohibition officially kicked off its campaign to put a measure on the November ballot in 2016 that would ask voters whether the state should decriminalize marijuana. (Emily Spartz Weerheim/Argus Leader via AP)

Tattooed bikers, middle-aged health care workers, blue-collar manufacturing employees and others converged on a Sioux Falls bar Wednesday night to work toward a shared goal: easing marijuana penalties in South Dakota.

South Dakotans Against Prohibition officially kicked off its campaign to put a measure on the November ballot in 2016 that would ask voters whether the state should decriminalize marijuana.

Under the proposed measure, possession of one ounce or less of marijuana would no longer be a criminal penalty, but a civil penalty, like a speeding ticket. It would also eliminate criminal penalties for paraphernalia and ingesting marijuana.

The pot proponents began circulating petitions several weeks ago and need to collect almost 14,000 signatures by Nov. 9 to get the measure on next year’s ballot. At the fundraising event Wednesday, organizers gave out free beer as they presented the petition to put the decriminalization question on the ballot, in addition to one asking voters whether to allow medical marijuana in the state. Outside the bar, a glass-blower created pipes and pieces of art.

Ryan Gaddy, the administrator of the pro-pot group, said he thinks the measure has a real shot at getting on the ballot — and passing — especially considering the estimated fiscal impact.

Gaddy and the group argue that law enforcement resources should be spent elsewhere, particularly on violent offenders.

“(Sioux Falls) is just exploding with crime, and the police really should redirect their focus on the people who need to be put in cages, not nonviolent offenders for plants,” Gaddy said.

The Legislative Research Council released a fiscal impact statement earlier this month that estimated that, if implemented, the measure would result in almost 3,200 fewer convictions for possession and ingestion of marijuana, and possession of paraphernalia. Researchers estimated that would save about $7.3 million over 10 years.

But the push for looser pot laws will face opposition, particularly from state officials and law enforcement, who oppose most efforts to ease the state’s marijuana laws.

Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said in an interview that Rapid City and other parts of the county have been flooded with marijuana since Colorado legalized the drug for recreational use. Thom and other officials expect that decriminalization would do the same.

Gaddy rejected the idea that decriminalizing marijuana would increase usage, adding that plenty of South Dakotans already indulge in the illegal drug.

“Just because a law changes doesn’t mean more people use,” he said. “Laws don’t dictate use; laws dictate incarceration.”

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said he has public safety and health concerns with the measure, but he also noted that even if it passes, it would require legislative and judicial interpretation before it could be implemented.

He said there are issues with how the measure would interact with state laws already on the books that govern marijuana possession.

At Big’s Sports Bar on Wednesday evening, Sioux Falls resident Amy Hawes signed both marijuana-related petitions at a table adorned with glass-blown objects.

Hawes said she signed because she feels people should be able to make their own choices when it comes to issues such as marijuana use.

“We live in a free country, so I feel like they should be able to decide,” she said.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard says he needs to review proposed ballot measures that would decriminalize marijuana possession and legalize medicinal cannabis, but the governor says he generally hasn’t supported such proposals.

Daugaard told The Associated Press on Wednesday he believes marijuana decriminalization would make the drug more available and less difficult to possess.

“I think all that does is it turns it into an alcohol-like, easily available drug, and we’ve got plenty of evidence that it has some addictive qualities, that it’s injurious to intellectual development, to initiative,” said Daugaard. “I just don’t see it as being good for us, and I don’t see any need to make it even more available and less difficult to have.”