If approved by voters on Election Day, Measure 29 will legalize personal use and possession of cannabis for adults 21 and over in South Dakota. This would be a major step toward enhancing the personal freedom of South Dakotans and promoting common-sense policy. Qualification for the ballot in 2024 is the latest chapter in South Dakota’s years-long debate over cannabis policy. In 2020, South Dakota became the first state in the country to legalize medical cannabis and adult-use cannabis on the same ballot. However, following the election, Gov. Kristi Noem orchestrated a lawsuit that ultimately repealed the legalization law approved by 54% of voters.
In 2018 and 2022, legalization ballot measures fell shy of passage, but public support has increased nationwide since then and North Dakota is now almost surrounded by legalization jurisdictions. Measure 5 would allow adults 21 and older to use cannabis at home without punishment – allowing possession of limited amounts of cannabis. Adults over the age of 21 would also be permitted to grow three plants per household (with a limit of six plants per household).
Florida voters will have the opportunity to legalize adult-use cannabis on November 5, 2024. Question 3 is being spearheaded by Smart and Safe Florida. The constitutional amendment will need 60% of the vote for passage and, if passed, will go into effect six months after passage. Due to Florida’s strict single issue rule, the initiative does not include expungement or home grow, but it is a critical starting point to ending the harms of cannabis prohibition in the Sunshine State. Amendment 3 would allow operating medical cannabis dispensaries to sell cannabis to adults over the age of 21, and allow adults 21 and over to possess one ounce of cannabis flower and five grams of concentrate.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana have collected enough signatures to place two companion medical cannabis measures on the November 5 ballot! Due to the outrageously restrictive single-subject court ruling, there are two separate, very simple companion measures. Initiative Measure 437 would protect patients with serious health conditions and their caregivers from arrest for the use of medical cannabis as recommended by a healthcare provider, while Initiative Measure 438 would establish a Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission to regulate the manufacture, distribution, delivery, and dispensing of cannabis for medical purposes by registered private entities.