{"id":757,"date":"2021-08-28T05:15:44","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T05:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmN0aW5zaWRlci5jb20vbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlL1NvdXRoLURha290YS1yZXNpZGVudHMtc3RpbGwtY2FuLXQtYnV5LWxlZ2FsaXplZC0xNjQxMTM2OC5waHDSAQA"},"modified":"2021-08-28T05:15:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T05:15:44","slug":"south-dakota-residents-still-cant-buy-legalized-marijuana-ct-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=757","title":{"rendered":"South Dakota residents still can’t buy legalized marijuana – CT Insider"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) \u2014 Bill Stocker is not your typical marijuana reform advocate\u2014he\u2019s retired from the U.S. Marine Corps and the Sioux Falls police department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have 37 years in uniform, and I am a disabled veteran,\u201d Stocker says.<\/p>\n

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You might recognize Stocker from tv ads supporting Amendment A. That was the constitutional amendment legalizing hemp and marijuana.<\/p>\n

Stocker supported the ballot measure because he thinks law enforcement\u2019s capacity is stretched too thin. He says officers should not focus on marijuana but on other drugs, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported<\/p>\n

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\u201cFentanyl is the problem, not marijuana,\u201d Stocker says.<\/p>\n

Stocker says he not only supported marijuana reform for the state, but also for himself. He suffers from chronic back pain, arthritis and PTSD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pay my taxes. I\u2019m a registered voter. I do my due diligence. I\u2019m a patriot,\u201d Stocker says. \u201cI have pain. I don\u2019t want to do opioids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stocker says the only thing that takes care of his pain is edible-based marijuana. He was counting on that treatment option after voters legalized medical and recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n

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But cannabis use is not yet legal in South Dakota, except on one reservation. Republican Governor Kristi Noem has been resistant to cannabis reform since she took office. She opposed industrial hemp and CBD oil legalization during her first two years in office.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Noem urged lawmakers not to pass a bill legalizing industrial hemp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe if we move ahead with industrial hemp and we aren\u2019t prepared with it from a regulatory standpoint, from an enforcement standpoint and if we don\u2019t have the equipment or the dollars to do with correctly, that we will be opening the door to allowing marijuana to be legalized in the state of South Dakota.\u201d<\/p>\n

That bill passed the state House and Senate. Noem vetoed it.<\/p>\n

A year and a half later, Noem campaigned against the recreational pot ballot measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody got smarter smoking pot,\u201d Noem said.<\/p>\n

Noem says state voters made a bad decision when they approved the constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s backing a lawsuit to overturn the voter-approved measure on constitutional grounds. The case is awaiting a state Supreme Court decision. That\u2019s why South Dakotan\u2019s cannot purchase recreational marijuana right now.<\/p>\n

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Seth Pearman is the attorney general for the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, where medical marijuana is legal for tribal members. It\u2019s the only jurisdiction in the state that sells medical cannabis. The tribe decided years ago that marijuana was not a high-priority enforcement area. It legalized the plant and wanted to capitalize on the market.<\/p>\n

Pearman says conservative states nationwide are resistant to legalization of marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do think that\u2019s changing pretty rapidly,\u201d Pearman says.<\/p>\n

Pearman says as more states regulate and tax cannabis effectively, legalization will continue to expand.<\/p>\n