Press "Enter" to skip to content

Hoghouse, Smoke-Out: Pierre Sees Plethora of Parliamentary Ploys on Pot Proposals

Meanwhile, South Dakota legislators continue to fight about pot.

Yesterday, House State Affairs killed Senate Bill 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana, and hijacked Senate Bill 150, which was supposed to put in place a regulatory structure to accommodate marijuana if voters legalize it (again) this November, and hoghouse-replaced it with provisions of two failed bills, Senate Bill 16 and Senate Bill 20, which repeal enforcement and medical defense provisions that voters approved in November 2020 in Initiated Measure 26 and give police more power to bust patients using cannabis to ease what ails them.

Then today, just to keep things exciting, Representative Greg Jamison (R-14/Sioux Falls) used the parliamentary trick South Dakota calls the smoke-out to force House State Affairs to release SB 3, the full legalization measure, for a vote of the full House. The votes have been tight, so Jamison may not put any loop-de-loo in your hookah, but he did give Speaker Spencer Gosch the line of the Session:

Jamison, R-Sioux Falls, used legislative rule 7-7 to call for what’s known as a smoke-out and had enough representatives stand, in order to force the House State Affairs Committee to release SB 3. The committee had killed it 8-3 Monday.

…House Speaker Spencer Gosch of Glenham finished the count and said Jamison had enough support. A smoke-out requires at least one-third of the chamber’s members, which is 24 in the House. “Just for the record,” said Gosch, “we’re smoking out a weed bill” [Bob Mercer, “Jamison Gets Adult-Use Pot to House Floor,” KELO-TV, 2022.03.01].

Passing SB 3 remains a long-shot: it passed the Senate by one vote, and even if Jamison can whip a House majority for legalization, neither chamber is near the strong consensus necessary to overcome a likely veto from Governor Kristi Noem.

Passing the hoghoused  SB 150 is slightly more likely—not probable, just more likely than the House legalization recreational marijuana. If the House passes this repeal of key portions of IM 26, Governor Noem, in her disdain for voters who try changing South Dakota, will surely sign it. That action could prompt marijuana advocates, who are already on the streets with an initiative petition to legalize marijuana (a petition those advocates pay me to advertise), to launch a referendum campaign to freeze SB 150 and save IM 26 from Legislative repeal.

24 Comments

  1. Richard Schriever 2022-03-01 18:32

    What’s that smell coming out of the capital? Bunch old flatuants.

  2. grudznick 2022-03-01 19:04

    Smoke that hog after it crosses over then lay it on the table.

  3. Nix 2022-03-01 19:24

    You can’t make this up.
    I guess we will just have to vote on it
    AGAIN.
    There are already enough signatures
    as I understand it , so it will be on the
    Ballot AGAIN.
    I guess I’ll just have to go to Colorado
    AGAIN.

  4. Arlo Blundt 2022-03-01 19:34

    Under the complete control of the Republican Wingnuts, the People Will Not Rule. In the eyes of the Wingnuts, the People are the enemy. Putin and his brutal killing machine are our friends. The world turned upside down.

  5. Porter Lansing 2022-03-01 20:09

    grudznick should be thanked for all he’s done to promote the legalization of marijuana, edibles, concentrates, and assorted complimentary products. Without your help, grudz this turning point in South Dakota history could never have occurred. #HipHipHooray

  6. Bob Newland 2022-03-01 20:24

    Problem is, Nix, you CAN make this stuff up. They just did. I mean, really; while “legalize” and “weed” are two words, they are not mutually exclusive in a sentence, which is what the SoDak Supreme Court decided, after taking more time to tell us an absurdity than they have ever taken on a question in history. What is the MATTER with these people?

  7. grudznick 2022-03-01 20:26

    Indeed, Mr. Lansing. The demon weed makes some men rich, at the expense of the minds of many more.
    If you want to send any tithings through my agent Bob, he’ll take his cut and deposit the rest.

  8. larry kurtz 2022-03-01 21:04

    This is exactly why my home state’s Koch-soaked legislature should legalize simple cannabis possession and empower tribal communities to be the sole producers and retailers.

  9. M 2022-03-02 06:56

    Hey larry kurtz, I like your idea. I trust the tribes to run the whole outfit professionally. The people in Pierre are soooooo incompetant and out of the loop with marijuana. POT IS READILY AVAILABLE TO ANYONE, ALTHOUGH IT IS EXPENSIVE, BUT STRONG. Money is being made, people get their weed and there are lots of middlemen. The youth I talk with say they never know what kind of pot it is or how strong it will be, but it’s everywhere in high school, more popular than alcohol. In fact, they vape it so it’s not easy to detect. And if people knew how beneficial open enrollment is for our youth, it’s not just for sports. The more buses a school sends out, the more variety of pot comes in and no one has to drive anywhere to buy it. Happens more often than you’d know. Point is, they want it, they’ll get it no matter what because they see nothing wrong with it. Eventually they’ll move to states where it is legal.

    Why the state does not want a cut of this money is beyond me but the kids think they’d pay more if the state ran it all. And the state would lower the THC content which nobody wants. One young man told me that it’s easier to make money “cutting up an ounce into quarters” to sell than mowing lawns for the city during the summer. College money for a university in northern California.

    Worse yet, the people in Pierre have no souls. They are disregarding the lives of people who medical marijuana could benefit. Who are they to deny them medical treatment….or anyone for that matter? They are not doctors or clergy and some of us wonder if they are even good parents. These heartless lemmings in Pierre can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.

  10. ABC 2022-03-02 08:50

    Putin loving Republicans love to deny sick people their medical weed.

    Maybe we should create a Cannabis Assembly, with representatives and senators from all counties, say, have 20 or 30 senators and representaves (each) elected from each county, we Assemble, meet every week (no 40 day nonsense!), year round, via Zoom, and we do the ‘s People’s Business!

    We the People VOTED IN medical marijuana by 69% plus and legal weed by 54 % in 2020! The leg and Governor clearly are HOSTILE to this.

    Why not create a Cannabis Assembly? As a nonprofit , and we will represent ALL the PEOPLE who are ignored by the Putin loving
    Legislature and Trump and Putin loving Governor.

    We WILL DO a lot more as a Non profit assembly with less money than the SD legislature does with billions! It’s not about money, its about
    WE REPRESENTATING OURSELVES! This will be a 1st Amendment Assembly!

    Anyone want to start one?

  11. ABC 2022-03-02 09:03

    Look at the all the (Putin like) violence done to all the people thrown in jail over the last many years over Marijuana possession? The legislature and governor support this—-they do NOT support OUR LAWS we passed in November 2020!!!!

    So we will create a 1st Amendment Assembly of over 3,000 members (60 per county, 30 Senators, 30 Representatives) to KEEP the PEOPLE inspired, KNOWING we are represented by OUR First Amendment Assembly every day , every month!

    We will pass no laws, lay down no taxes. We simply will assemble, not debate or bicker, and make sure the PEOPLES WILL of 2020 gets done! (Plus we could choose, in each county, to fund 1-3 nonprofit projects).

    Let’s stop writing novels on Cory’s great blog! The Avengers assembled, can we?

    We can do this! Be a Senator or a Representative soon (how about March 2022?) , Let;s show the world we can do this,
    and extend freedom, like our brave Ukrainians are!
    We can talk. And we can Assemble.

  12. O 2022-03-02 09:12

    grudznick exposes the hypocrisy of the entire marijuana opposition: ___________ ” makes some men rich, at the expense of the minds of many more.” Will we fill in the blank with “the demon weed,” or alcohol or gambling/video lottery, or social media (or gravy-taters)?

    Our moral outrage is inconsistent at best. It seems the lesson of Prohibition has not been learned, therefore must be relived.

  13. Mark Anderson 2022-03-02 09:17

    Gosh, your South Dakota legislature voted down the will of the people. Elitism reigns in the state. Don’t worry, you won’t get wet and your fearless leaders know what’s good for you. They must protect the girls from tranz and all you citizens from dope. Doesn’t it give you hope?

  14. All Mammal 2022-03-02 10:34

    I’m down. All day. Everyday, ABC. It has been the pits getting my cohorts revved up about writing our representatives and registering to vote and voting as of late thanks to the now valid argument: ‘It doesn’t matter. My vote don’t count.’ There went all my ammo to rally my peers into the polls by convincing them when they do not participate in our democracy and cast their ballot, they indisputably vote twice to keep the establishment the way it is. And I would rant and flip tables and beg and coerce people to vote. Now I’m flat on my face with any validity proclaiming every vote counts. When the vote has lost it’s power, the people either correct it immediately or denounce their freedom and all was for not.

  15. larry kurtz 2022-03-05 07:57

    South Dakota’s budding hemp industry will drive more growers of therapeutic and “recreational” cannabis indoors to prevent pollen drift from destroying crops while boosting energy costs.

    Meanwhile, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is operating its dispensary at full capacity but is limiting patients to an 1/8 of an ounce of flower to avoid running out of product. The Nation is constructing additional cultivation facilities that will nearly triple its current production and tribal attorney, Seth Pearman says the pursuit of a compact with the state is ongoing. In May of 2021 the Isanti Dakota Oyate purchased a parcel in the heart of the commercial district in Sioux Falls.

    Now, the Nation has purchased a long-vacant building in Mitchell.

    Tribal sovereignty binds the hands of states competing for federal resources. Under the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act the Tohono O’odham Nation won its lawsuit with the State of Arizona and in 2017 it opened a casino in Glendale outside its established boundaries.

    White people who grow industrial cannabis in South Dakota want to double the number of acres as a declaration of war on the tribal communities who want to bring economic opportunities and test off-reservation sovereignty.

  16. grudznick 2022-03-05 08:12

    Do not worry, Mr. O, for the paid cannabis lobbists will keep at it, earning their gravy and more, I am sure.

  17. ABC 2022-03-07 10:41

    All mammal, it’s not fun trying to get people revved up and the anti voting Putin machinery stays in place in South Dakota, ergo, everything’s just fine, no corruption here, those people just don’t have their ID papers correctly.

    That’s why I keep introducing my idea of a First Amendment Assembly again and again. And again. Once we get used to having our (nonprofit nongovernmental) Elections every month, every week or twice a week, we can show the world that hyper direct democracy really works harder and smarter than regular 40 day lag-islatures do.

    What surprises me is that the liberals on this blog are so addicted to the power that currently is! 40 day Legislature, yep. Elections every 2 years, yep. Complaining about the R Party, yep. Doing anything new, no?!

    I think a First Amendment Assembly, be it for legalized hemp, or any good issue, such as a Climate Action Assembly, would work ASTONISHINGLY well, thousands would be involved and we’d have our elections every week, it would be a very cool Assembly that would do the impossible with alacrity!

    Maybe it’ll start somewhere like Charles Mix , Davison County, Watertown and then will just spread and cover the whole state!

    The idea that we are outnumbered does a disservice to us and democracy.

    Ten liberals in Harding County could FAR MORE than the 900 or so who vote once every 2 years.
    By far!

  18. ABC 2022-03-07 10:45

    Ten liberals in Harding County could do FAR MORE than the 900 or so who vote once every 2 years. (Correction.)

  19. All Mammal 2022-03-07 14:44

    We can do it ABC. Do you think to further the availability of casting a vote, we could get some nifty IT people in the state to construct an APP for cell phones that would have the counting and vetting program built right in? The polls are a health risk for medically compromised community members. That is why it scathes my hide so bad knowing how many people literally risked their lives and families lives to stand in line outside for an hour to approve the right to use a plant. And that voice was garroted and killed. By ‘freedom lovers’. There is nothing more despicable than disenfranchising my mother and antie and fellow South Dakotans. Knowing the grief and fear they went through, it kills me when I hear my people say that will be the last time they vote.

    Just by collecting the people’s attitudes and opinions on every concept that comes up will demonstrate the people’s attentiveness and resuscitate the entire voting climate and bend the shots called in the favor of the results of our data.

    Official or not, once we can demonstrate considerable involvement, our mini polls will be loud and clear. Thats powerful.

  20. ABC 2022-03-08 02:51

    All mammal I think IT folks can set it up nicely and securely. We can make it easy to vote.

    I can see 2 ways of voting, both good.

    The first is to elect officers. Everyone of course can be a Governor or a Senator, either one. Everyone will have a position! Unless we get over 60 people in a county who want to serve. It would not be competitive, all can serve. A proxy voter (one) can basically cast the one vote to elect all officers on a monthly or weekly basis.

    The second would be to vote Yes or No on actions the County Assembly wants to take. I don’t envision this Assembly as a debating society or Liberal vs Centrist vs Conservative. I see it as an ACTION Assembly, where we agree on the basics (be it Cannabis legalization or Climate Action or ). and we just vote on different ideas on how to make the good actions happen, positively.

    The involvement and the sense of belonging is POWERFUL! Someone can say, “Yeah I’m from Harding County and I’m a Senator for the ZZZZZ Assembly. I sure have fun!” Belonging, involvement, encouraging creative ideas! It works!

  21. All Mammal 2022-03-08 08:56

    ABC. I like this rapid fire idea better than starting fresh by somehow sneaking in all the schools to encourage civics participation early. This will trickle down for sure and kids are always wanting to mimic grownups by staring at the phone. I like the concept of the people’s movement having huge impacts in all decisions being made. For instance, before a school board vote, all the members take a peek at our graphs to make sure to go with what the majorities are wanting in their area. Once people are welcomed to the floor, confidence will grow and we will know it is working when the untouchables surely try to stop it.

    Just getting participation in numbers will restore democracy.

    No more accepting things that suck. I pledge to harness as much energy our state puts into Sunday football and convert it to be exerted towards matters of consequence. I’m not necessarily saying we will need half naked women and meat heads to promote the revolution, but I must say I can sound and look quite republican for maneuvering certain people more readily, if that makes any sense.

    I have been very curious about this city-funded, immaculate building that recently went up down the street from me. Elevate Rapid City. It is supposed to be for nurturing startups and entrepreneurship and angel investors(?) We should most certainly qualify to utilize these resources. The parking lot is deserted during business hours and I have suspected it is a HQ for seedy, anti-democratic activities. Nonetheless, I will look into how to get to the goods it claims to provide for fledgling ideas in SD. We did fund it and all. Keep your vision coming and I will be on it like a fiend.

  22. ABC 2022-03-08 13:16

    Elevate Rapid City is a combo shop for Chamber of Commerce and Econ Development, I think.

    “Elevate Rapid City, Governor’s Office of Economic Development West River Office, and South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority” is in the David Lust Accelerator Building.

    For being in the building, it has some very specific requirements— “Your company must provide a technology-based product or service and
    must have job creating growth potential.
    • You are not eligible if your company has not incorporated (LLC, S Corp,
    etc.) or if you are a research entity with no plans to commercialize. Please
    contact us about other options.”

    Seems like a tech incubator.

    I’ll keep working on the idea. Cannabis or Climate Change might be too narrow of a focus. “High Wages” is more in the ballpark. I think the voting and the creative ideas PLUS a tech component (an app) would make it big and huge.

    The biggest idea is democracy. Ultra expanding economics is a subset of democracy. Without full macro and micro democracy, econ development is just based on capital. We can develop the bigger ideas.

  23. ABC 2022-03-08 13:29

    All mammal, I don’t know if the David Lust Accelerator building would accept a nonprofit as a tenant. But we can sure use the services that are there.

    Another way. Instead of a pure nonprofit (adhering to 501-c-3 Federal nonprofit standards) there would be more freedom of action in setting up a social business, where 2 or 3 founders kick in a hundred bucks or so each–then the business runs forever, with no profits ever going to the founders, just paying back the money they put into it at the start.

    http://yunuscentre.org/post/363/seven-principles-of-social-business

    “Business objective will be to overcome poverty, or one or more problems (such as education, health, technology access, and environment) which threaten people and society; not profit maximization.” From the 7 principles.

    “…do it with joy” The 7th principle !

    Technology access, environment, raising wages (abolish poverty) are big.

  24. All Mammal 2022-03-08 15:14

    ABC- I will watch the link later this evening and thanks for the skinny on the big shiny fish scale building. I can say I am 100% down to do whatever leg work and pushing the idea and investing what I can. I wouldn’t see it as a return investment but a sincerely altruistic effort to move this thing along and get some footing for exactly what you mentioned. My favorites are the big D. As in democracy, kids and the good earth. I have noticed how this concept aligns impeccably with Buckminster Fuller’s quote on my fridge, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
    The ideas and gumption and smarts you have are good trouble. The current model is going to be banned history the kids will unban in our lifetimes(:

Comments are closed.