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Noem Spends Marijuana Implementation Money on Image Rehab

Close your eyes, kiss your cash goodbye…South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
Close your eyes, kiss your cash goodbye…

Bob Mercer reports that Governor Kristi Noem grabbed $322,500 that the Legislature intended be used on implementing the marijuana initiatives that voters approved over the Governor’s objection last fall and used the money to put her face on television:

The governor’s one-minute advertisement, done in the style of a public-service announcement, aired from June through September, a Department of Health spokesman said.

Daniel Bucheli told KELOLAND News the medical-cannabis work also included social media posts and tracking in the same period.

He said the source of funding for the medical-cannabis ads was Senate Bill 35 that the Legislature approved last winter.

The enrolled version of the legislation appropriated a lump sum of $4,161,502 for implementing the provisions of Constitutional Amendment A, which legalized marijuana for people age 21 and older, and for Initiated Measure 26, which legalized medical-cannabis use, but didn’t provide any specifics.

Noem last fall opposed both the proposed medical-cannabis laws and Constitutional Amendment A [Bob Mercer, “Taxpayers Footed Bill on Noem’s Cannabis Ads,” KELO-TV, 2021.10.18].

Marijuana advocate Matthew Schweich tells Noem, thanks for nothing:

“These TV and digital ads provided virtually no helpful information to the public,” Schweich said. “They were a PR campaign intended to rehabilitate Governor Noem’s image on the issue of cannabis after her attempts to repeal Amendment A and severely delay Measure 26 proved to be unpopular with voters.”

He continued, “She should use her campaign funds to refund the state government for every penny spent on this advertising campaign, which was a misuse of taxpayer money” [Bob Mercer, “Marijuana Campaign Director Criticizes Noem,” KELO-TV, 2021.10.18].

Come on, Matt—did you expect Kristi to use state money and power for anything other than her personal gain?

17 Comments

  1. Donald Pay 2021-10-19 08:58

    Anyone else think Noem thinks she’s s a Khardashian? It’s really perverted.

  2. Amy B. 2021-10-19 09:39

    I don’t think the governor realizes that by putting her face on those medical marijuana ads she keeps fanning the flames and pissing people off. We all know she opposed it and for her to now go on and pretend that she’s ok with it is infuriating. I’ve heard from many people that they mute the TV or walk away so they don’t have to see it. She’s only trying to win back some of the voters she lost and alienated over the past couple years.

  3. Ryan 2021-10-19 09:41

    dang it donald… i had never thought of it like that, but now i won’t be able to get it out of my head. as a brilliant man once said, you are righter than right.

  4. Bonnie B Fairbank 2021-10-19 09:51

    Kristi Lynn would have to grow 30 IQ points to truly emulate any Kardashian.

    I’m scarcely an arbiter of fashion, but Her Highness needs to ditch the Roma queen earrings; she’s too old for that look. (Did I hear a “meow” from the audience)?

  5. Mark Anderson 2021-10-19 10:22

    What did you expect, it was a commercial for dope.

  6. Eve Fisher 2021-10-19 11:28

    Hey, all the money – for her in-Pierre studio, her make up stylist, her hair stylist, her fashion stylist, and every single thing she puts on social media, is coming out of our pockets. And I, for one, got fed up with all of it a long time ago.

  7. Nix 2021-10-19 11:45

    Once again, Ladies and Gentlemen
    Please give a warm welcome to
    THE DOPE QUEEN OF DELUSION

    Let’s review:
    Delusion
    An idiosyncratic belief or impression
    that is firmly maintained despite being
    contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument,
    typically a symptom of mental disorder.

    Any questions?

  8. mike from iowa 2021-10-19 12:35

    Rumour has it Noem had 2 Viagra pills in her skin tight blue jeans to give her the strength to pretend she is for pot. Why the Viagra? Noem pretends to be hard on drugs, just like…..

  9. mike from iowa 2021-10-19 12:36

    Rumour has it Noem had 2 Viagra pills in her skin tight blue jeans to give her the strength to pretend she is for pot. Why the Viagra? Noem yearns to be hard on drugs, just like…..

  10. Disgusted Dakotan 2021-10-19 14:19

    These ads were plastered over every radio station across the state and were thinly veiled public paid for campaign ads.

    The queen of political opportunism.

  11. ArloBlundt 2021-10-19 16:46

    Well…admit it…this Governor has a talent for spending large amounts of tax payer money…squander would be a good verb….you get what you vote for.

  12. grudznick 2021-10-19 17:33

    It is just dandy that my good friend Bill, and old friend of this blog, is mentioned in this article. And now you know, as Mr. Harvey, the elder, used to say, the REST of the story.

  13. Scott 2021-10-19 22:15

    If we had real legislative leadership, they would curtail all this spending our governor is doing. The large staff the governor has is for her national campaign she is running. Free security when she is campaigning or out trying to get attention. All these commercials she does to keep her face before the voters. All these events she plasters her personal name on like the buffalo roundup. TV Studio for her use when she is on FOX TV.

    Taxpayer fund all this for Noem.

  14. V 2021-10-20 05:17

    The perfect picture for my next dart board. Otherwise, she’s useless.

  15. Porter Lansing 2021-10-20 14:29

    Governor Noem presents more and more like the NAZI that Trump demands, every day.

    “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.
    The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
    – Mein Kampf (not Joseph Goebbels, though it is often attributed to him.)

  16. Bonnie B Fairbank 2021-10-20 16:48

    I acknowledge Kristi Lynn is a vain, submoronic whore, liar, cheat, and thief, but, most importantly a “God Fearing Christian” who twuwy wuvs her hubby whats-his-name.
    I’ve been lowering my expectations of SD voters for the last twenty years, but really. Is this piece of nasty baggage the best this state can do? Why, yes, it is. She’s certainly White House bound.

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