Advocates in South Dakota are calling the state Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate a voter-approved recreational cannabis initiative on technical grounds a “terrible precedent” and are calling on the Legislature to put it right with voters by approving adult-use legalization in the 2022 session. “They rejected common sense,” said Matthew Schweich, deputy director of the Marijuana Policy Project and campaign director for South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, the group that sponsored the 2020 initiative. According to the courts, Amendment A, which passed in 2020 with 54% of the vote, was unconstitutional because South Dakota law states that initiatives must be a single subject; Amendment A “embraced ‘at least five distinct general subjects,’” including the right to grow, possess and use marijuana; giving the state the power to promulgate rules regulating marijuana; imposing a tax on marijuana and directing how the revenue is appropriated; requiring the Legislature to pass laws ensuring access to medical marijuana; and requiring the Legislature to pass laws regarding hemp. Schweich said opponents of cannabis legalization “weaponized” the single-subject requirement and said justices “bent over backward to throw this law out.”

Marijuana Venture, 01/06/2022 15:00:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanaventure.com/south-dakota-court-overturns-adult-use-legalization-bill/

Key Rhode Island lawmakers say they are nearing an agreement on a marijuana legalization bill that they plan to introduce within days. But one part of the deal might jeopardize support from the governor. Legislators have been in talks for months to reconcile competing legalization proposals that have been brought forward by the House, Senate, and governor’s office. Many issues have been resolved over the course of negotiations, but the question of who should be in charge of regulating the program—an existing agency or a newly created body—has been a sticking point. Lawmakers are now signaling that the best route to satisfy both sides would be to create a compromise approach where a state agency like the Department of Business Regulation (DBR) and a new independent cannabis commission would each play a role. House Speaker Joseph Sherkarchi (D) said in opening remarks at the start of the 2022 session on Tuesday that lawmakers have “spent months analyzing the complex issue of marijuana legalization.” “The House and Senate intend to soon have a draft of legislation ready, which will serve as a framework to begin a robust public hearing process,” he said.

Mmp News Author, Medical Marijuana Program Connection, 01/05/2022 22:17:00

Open article: https://mmpconnect.com/rhode-island-lawmakers-near-marijuana-legalization-deal-but-governor-not-sold-on-key-provision/

Iowa Democratic senators on Wednesday released the text of a joint resolution to put the question of marijuana legalization before voters on the state’s ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment says that “the possession, growth, cultivation, processing, manufacture, preparation, packaging, transferal, consumption, and retail sale and purchase of cannabis, or products created from or including cannabis, by persons 21 years of age or older, shall be lawful.” Sens. Joe Bolkcom (D), Janet Petersen (D) and Sarah Trone Garriott (D), who first unveiled their marijuana reform plan last month, say inaction on the issue in the GOP-controlled legislature meant they needed to pursue the alternative route to end prohibition. “We are proposing this constitutional amendment for voters to decide because Republicans have repeatedly refused to engage in any meaningful debate about marijuana reform,” Bolkcom said at a briefing with reporters on Wednesday. “Governor [Kim] Reynolds is strongly opposed to marijuana reform and, of the 92 Republicans currently in the Iowa General Assembly, there is not a single member that has expressed support for regulating marijuana like alcohol.”

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 01/05/2022 14:34:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/iowa-democrats-unveil-marijuana-resolution-to-put-legalization-on-ballot-for-voters-to-decide/