A measure to legalize medical cannabis in South Dakota has officially qualified for the state’s 2020 ballot. After activists turned in more than 30,000 signatures for the petition last month, the secretary of state’s office has confirmed that the statutory measure received enough valid signatures to qualify.
“[O]ur office conducted a random sample of the petition signatures and found 74.65 percent to be valid,” South Dakota Secretary of State Steve Barnett (R) said in a press release. The proposal is now officially designated as Initiated Measure 26.
This is the first cannabis reform citizen initiative to make it onto any state ballot for 2020, with several others—from Mississippi to Nebraska—also in the works. Earlier this week, New Jersey lawmakers approved a resolution to put a referendum on legalization before voters next November.
Medical cannabis legalization is one of two reform proposals that organizers are hoping to put to South Dakota voters next year. A separate campaign submitted signatures for an initiative to legalize for adult use, but that constitutional amendment proposal requires a higher threshold, and state officials have yet to validate the signatures.
Read the full article at marijuanamoment.net