In 2025, a South Dakotan who tried unsuccessfully to repeal the medical marijuana law approved by voters last year will take a new approach. Travis Ismay, a conservative activist and newly-elected state legislator, is seeking to stop the program through legislation.
Ismay was not able to get his citizen initiative on the ballot in November last year, but he did win election to South Dakota’s 28B District. He wasted no time to revive his efforts to repeal the voter-approved law for medical cannabis.
In a House Bill 1101, he proposed to repeal all medical marijuana laws, effectively ending this program. He was joined in this effort by four members of the GOP controlled House, including the majority whip.
Ismay filed a ballot initiative in order to put the issue on the 2020 ballot. The law was approved by voters with nearly 70% support. It was rejected by the state attorney general.
Prior to the election, backers of a separate ballot measure to legalize adult-use cannabis in South Dakota—which voters rejected last November—had called on state officials to scuttle Ismay’s initiative. South Dakotans For Better Marijuana Laws claimed that the petitions supporting the repeal of medical cannabis did not meet state requirements.
He’s clearly feeling more confident now that he has a place at the table of the Legislature.
In relation to the adult-use legalization effort in the State, former Governor. Kristi Noem (R)—who was recently confirmed to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the second Trump administration—was among the opponents of the reform proposal. She said in an ad that was released last summer, the proposed reforms were “bad for our children” and would not “improve community.”
The former governor stated at that time, “I’ve never heard of anyone who has become smarter by smoking marijuana.”
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After voters approved medical cannabis legalization in 2020, Noem tried to get the legislature to approve a bill to delay implementation for an additional year. While the bill was passed by the House, the negotiators in the Senate conference were not able to agree on a compromise. This resulted to a blow to Noem.
In response, Noem’s office started exploring a compromise, with one proposal that came out of her administration to decriminalize possession of up to one ounce of cannabis, limit the number of plants that patients could cultivate to three and prohibit people under 21 from qualifying for medical marijuana.
In the 2022 legislative session, the House rejected a legalization bill that the Senate had passed, effectively leaving it up to activists to get on the ballot again.
A Marijuana Interim Study Committee, headed by legislative leaders, was established to explore cannabis policy reform, and the panel in November 2021 recommended that the legislature take up legalization. This recommendation led directly to the House legislation that was defeated.
Virginia Legislation to Legalize Marijuana Sale Clears Committees Votes; Senate Floor Vote Next
Side Pocket Images. Image courtesy Chris Wallis.
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