After the Failure of IM 27 lawmakers attempting to restrict Med MJ even more

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Well, we should have seen this coming, a NEW drug war has emerged after right wingers killed IM 27 with a campaign littered with lies;

Lawmakers want to make it more difficult to expand the list of conditions that might qualify a citizen for a medical marijuana card.

Patients who want relief for conditions not explicitly listed in the law ought to ask their elected lawmaker to add the condition for them during the legislative session. 

Yeah, that sounds convenient and legitimate! NOT! As I have told people in the past, all Medical Cannabis is, is aspirin that gets you high. It’s a pain reliever, sleep aid and relaxant. It can and should be prescribed for ANY ailment. Isn’t it funny how a group of mostly white male business owners with NO medical, chemistry or biology degrees seem to know so much about reproductive health and chronic pain disorders.

I mean, I knew they were big group of smart fellers (or was it fart smellers?) but they constantly amaze me with all of their genius medical advice and recommendations 🙁

UPDATE: Did the Slaughterhouse’s confusing ballot language contribute to its failure?

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UPDATE: I wanted to clarify something, I think that well over 90% of voters DID know what they were voting on, but there is always those stragglers that don’t research the ballot before they vote and make a decision in the ballot box without knowing the context. I do believe a small number of voters were confused. How do you go from polling 78% this summer to losing this fall? Before the opposition gained steam the only ads we were seeing were for vote YES, then suddenly every ad a month before the election were vote NO and vote YES, constantly, which added to the confusion. I was personally happy with the results.

Unless we are willing to make a concerted effort to close ALL packing plants in town, this really seemed like they were picking on Wholestone. I still think this ends up in court, but the biggest failure was our city council not acting on this in January or February. If we still had conditional use permitting, we could have required WF to follow a higher standard (especially when it comes to water and waste water). I’m a huge believer in the initiative and petition process, but only after all government solutions were exhausted, the city didn’t lift a finger and forced an expensive election that could have been avoided.

I knew the Rec MJ decision was going to be close, however it turned out, but it would be decisive. I can’t say that about the slaughterhouse vote. While I did vote ‘NO’ and fully agreed that if a developer or business follows the rules set in place when it comes to property and property rights they deserve to move forward. I also think there was a lot of games played along the way on both sides that would have made it hard to stop this development (including the inaction of the city council when it comes to zoning). Either way, this will still end up in court.

What I do scratch my head about is if the ballot language contributed to the confusing outcome? How is it that something can be polling 60-70% then fail on election day? Just look at polling for Medicare, Rec MJ and Noem, all polls were almost spot on (though Noem did do a lot better than expected).

Think about it. If someone tells you to vote ‘NO’ you would assume that means ‘NO’ to new slaughterhouses and a ‘YES’ vote means ‘YES’ to new slaughterhouses. Well guess what? It is vice versa.

I’m not even sure how you would clear this up, you would almost need to do an exit poll to see how people voted and how they felt. This is impossible at this point.

We may never know.

I did know who Kameron Nelson was, and that is why I voted for him. District 10 is the only place in the state where the magic happened (and District 15). I actually was let in on the ground game this summer of what Democratic District 10 candidates were doing to win that district, and they had a good game, the results don’t surprise me a bit. There was also a rumor swirling that John Mogen and Tom Sutton were personally recruited by Noem to be placeholders in District 10 so she could appoint someone if they won.

I live in an Oasis. Now where can I get some good black market weed? Asking for a friend 🙂

Speaking of the evil weed. I see the opposition’s game of ‘what about the children’ worked, and once again, Mayor TenHaken set a precedent, now influencing ballot measures and questions. I still have a glimmer of hope that peeps from the IM 27 campaign will file ethics and campaign rule complaints against those peddling lies about the measure.

It’s about ETHICS not LAW

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There have been some people questioning if Mayor TenHaken’s presser on IM 27 violated state law;

When Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken attended a news conference and shared his concern about recreational marijuana on Oct. 26, it caught Melissa Mentele’s attention. She was sponsor of the successful 2020 ballot measure which legalized medical marijuana in the state. Mentele herself held a news conference on Tuesday in Sioux Falls; she wants to know if TenHaken broke state codified law, which says that the state or a state agency can’t spend public money to influence the success or failure of a ballot question.

Technically you could say he violated state law; he used a public facility funded by the taxpayers of Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County and he did it while he was on the clock. He also did not share FACTUAL information.

As for any 1st Amendment violations, I agree with TenHaken;

TenHaken sent KELOLAND News via text message: “Fortunately as an elected leader I don’t have to forfeit my First Amendment rights to say IM27 is terrible public policy and people should vote no.”

He is very much correct that elected officials don’t give up their 1st Amendment rights after taking office, but, this is NOT about constitutional or state law, this is about ethics.

As an elected official who may have to rule/vote on proposed law in the future, it is very unethical and conflicting to take a position on a ballot measure before it has been voted on. What makes it even more complicated is using money from a personal PAC to fund an opposition campaign, BTW, a campaign littered with lies and false information.

This should be questioned, but not on the basis of law, but on ethics.

“Laws without morals are in vain.” – Benjamin Franklin

IM 27 opponents spread lies

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The worst part about the campaign is it is being funded by the mayor of the largest city in South Dakota. The opponents know they need Sioux Falls to vote this down in order to win so they spread the lies.

Rick Steves was the guest on The Dakota Scout podcast this week. He did a marvelous job of explaining decriminalization further and how it will be up to our state legislature to fine tune the law if passed. He called it the ‘Reefer Madness’ propaganda.

Lalley brought up the sticky situation Mayor TenHaken has put himself in;

But Mayor TenHaken made an interesting point. He said that if IM27 does pass, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to buy weed in Sioux Falls, other than what’s currently allowed for medical marijuana use.

The mayor brought up Colorado Springs, Colorado, where the city doesn’t allow dispensaries even though it’s legal in that state. Ultimately, it would be up to the South Dakota Legislature to decide how marijuana is regulated, he said.

So I asked him what he would tell lawmakers should that come to pass.

“If I could tell them what to do, I would say we have what’s called home rule in Sioux Falls. I think that is a muscle that we would certainly flex on this. But I can say other vices that we limit. We limit the number of liquor licenses. We’ve limited medical (marijuana) dispensaries. It’s not going to be a cannabis free-fall in Sioux Falls if this would happen and we have to put this here. We need to be pragmatic about if it would pass.”

First off, even with Home Rule, the mayor doesn’t have the power to limit anything, that is up to the city council. I would also find the limitation of casinos, bars, liquor stores as NOT a fair comparison. You can gamble, drink or buy alcohol for home ingestion on any corner in this city. I guess I would ask what limitations he is talking about? By that comparison we could have a dispensary within a half mile of everyone’s house in Sioux Falls.

I don’t care if you are running for office or are advocating for or against a measure. Lying to constituents to get the intended result will always fail in the end. Liars will always be losers no matter what happens on election day.

UPDATE: Mayor TenHaken’s Next Gen PAC gives $10K to Anti-IM 27 group

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UPDATE: I have seen some poorly thrown together pressers before, but this one took the cake. During the briefing which featured mostly TenHaken, he was asked about the monicker ‘Reject IM 27’ he said it isn’t a slogan just some materials that his PAC, Next Gen came up with. They also tried to link homelessness to Rec MJ legalization. If I wasn’t surrounded by Republicans I probably would have busted up laughing. Sheriff Milstead also went after a retired veteran and SFPO for supporting IM 27. I didn’t catch everything he said, but I think he questioned his mental state. I also enjoyed Maggie Sutton’s phone going off while in the middle of the presser. Several reporters asked questions, but I think one of the TV stations cameramen really went after them about why they are so opposed. Patrick Lalley with Sioux Falls Forum also asked PTH about his conflict if it passes and he has to implement policy. Paul pretty much said he would use the power of Home Rule Charter to limit access. This is pretty bold statement considering the city still has to follow state law and the council approves all ordinances. Lalley also asked Minnehaha County State’s Attorney, Dan Haggar about what the city and county are currently doing to combat illegal MJ use right now. There was a lot of stammering. A few days ago PTH posted a video on his FB page where he tricked his youngest daughter into believing MJ edibles were real candy to prove a point. Here’s the deal, potheads won’t be going to schools handing out edibles. Unfortunately polling for IM 27 has it a neck and neck race, and if SF doesn’t carry the measure, it won’t pass.

Leaders(?) will have a presser tomorrow to spread more baloney about the harmful effects of marijuana. The only thing IM 27 does is decriminalize possession of small amounts of recreational MJ for adult use. There is nothing in the measure that sets up dispensaries or a taxation system. That will be the job of the legislative ‘leaders’ to take that on if the measure passes. There is also NO exemption for use of the product under the age of 21 (just like tobacco and alcohol).

DONATION DOCS (PAC link)

As mentioned by the chair and proponent of IM 27, if legalizing Rec MJ across the country (about 20 states) has been so harmful and detrimental, then why hasn’t any of these states repealed the legalization? It’s simple. Because the benefits of legal MJ for adults outweighs any issues that may arise from legalization.

The opponents are trying to make this about the kids, but it has nothing to do with kids, enforcement or taxation. If the leaders in this state really want to make a difference, they would climb aboard and find a logical way to regulate, sell and tax Rec MJ for the betterment of all.

I encourage anyone who supports IM 27 and know what the opponents are pushing is total BS to show up to the presser tomorrow and call them out on their stats. It’s time we publicly call them out on their games and the dark money funding their opposition campaign from the mayor’s PAC’s donors.