South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem
Kristi Lynn NoemEric Trump warns of the primary challenges for Republicans who are not opposed to election results Trump again asks Noem to go to the Thune primaries despite his refusal. Noem dismisses the Thune challenge after Trump criticizes Senator MORE (R) on Friday issued an executive order allowing a legal challenge to the constitutionality of an amendment passed by voters in November to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.
Inside the order, Noem argues that the “initiative process used to place” the amendment that sought to legalize marijuana and require the legislature to pass laws that guarantee access to medical marijuana “was not appropriate and violated the procedures set out in the Dakota Constitution of South”.
Noem’s order also states that Colonel Rick Miller, superintendent of the highway patrol, is entitled to sue the amendment because he is acting on behalf of the governor.
Inside a lawsuit filed in late November, Miller and Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom claimed that the constitutional amendment, Amendment A, violated the rules against amending more than one issue at a time.
Amendment A incorporated the legalization of marijuana, regulating its recreational use, taxing it, guaranteeing access to medical marijuana and requiring state lawmakers to pass laws regulating hemp.
Instead, Miller and Thom are arguing that broader revisions to the state constitution need to be passed through a constitutional convention, according to The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, South Dakota The office of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) and a group of citizens who led the campaign for the amendment, which will take effect on July 1, argued that the amendment covers only one issue: cannabis.
Amendment A passed 54 percent support in the November 3 election, while a separate question on the legalization of medical marijuana received nearly 70 percent.
Noem was among the biggest opponents of marijuana legalization, calling the vote “the wrong choice” in a statement released two days after the election.