This November, South Dakota voters simultaneously approved ballot initiatives aimed at legalizing medical and adult-use cannabis. The success of the broader initiative, Amendment A, was especially striking because it prevailed by an eight-point margin in a state that is mostly Republican and largely conservative.
Now, thanks to a legal challenge backed by Republican Governor Kristi Noem, Amendment A was almost immediately tied up in litigation, and the South Dakota Supreme Court definitively overturned it on November 24, ruling that the measure violated the "single subject" rule for constitutional amendments.
The court's 4–1 decision does not affect Measure 26, which authorizes the medical use of cannabis and passed with support from 70% of voters last November, but unless the state legislature independently implements the policy embodied in Amendment A, the ruling means supporters of broader legalization will have to try again next year with an initiative that addresses the court's legal objections.
Read the complete article at reason.com.
