I continue to believe it will be a miracle if we will be able to light up a joint legally in South Dakota come July 1, 2021.
As I suspected the first lawsuit cooked up against Amendment ‘A’ may be just the first in a series of suits to be drug out in court for years to come. There are also rough estimates that this first suit has already cost taxpayers around $400K in the state preparing for the legal challenge. The plan is to tie up the Amendment challenge in court so long that the other side just gives up or loses.
There are also these troubling rumors slobbering out of Pierre these days;
• Big Pharma’s sales, most likely for opiates, went down over 30% when MJ became legal in Colorado and our Governor and her family are supposed big investors in Big Pharma and other industries that would be hurt by this plant.
• Even if Amendment ‘A’ wins it’s legal battles the state plans to propose a $700K per year growing permit for those who plan to provide to dispensaries, and another $700K a year to maintain a dispensary.
• While many may take relief in the fact you are allowed to have your own Chia Mary Jane garden in your basement, the state will require you to have a personal permit for that also, which could run in the thousands of dollars. And if you are caught growing in your own home without a permit, severe penalties and possible felonies and jail time.
This fight is going to get ugly, fast.
I still believe that Brendan Johnson wrote the Amendment to be too stringent and give too much power to the legislature and state beaucrats to regulate the crap out of it. I would have made it simple and only had a couple of sentences;
‘A Vote Yes on Constitutional Amendment A would decriminalize the use, sale and distribution of marijuana for recreational or medical use. The state has the right to tax and regulate it but all provisions must be approved by a vote of the people within 1 year. Until such provisions are put into place, all citizens have a right to possess up to 3 plants and an ounce of harvested product – this provision will remain unchanged.’
See, wasn’t that easy?