South Dakota Republicans say they will move forward on marijuana legislation and regulation regardless of an ongoing lawsuit.
Attorneys made arguments Wednesday in Pierre on whether a voter-approved amendment is constitutional in legalizing recreational and medical marijuana. Amendment A was approved by 54 percent of voters last November.
Senate Majority Leader Gary Cammack says lawmakers must make marijuana a priority, despite pending litigation.
“We’ve got to move forward in the way that it doesn’t exist because until that ruling comes down, we’ve got to move forward as far as the way the will of the people have been expressed. Until that happens through the courts, we’ve just got to move forward.”
Cammack says work on marijuana issues will continue to next year’s legislative session.
House lawmakers have introduced three "vehicle bills" related to marijuana. Vehicle bills are empty bills that can be amended later in session. Those amendments must pertain to the original subject of the bill.
House Majority Leader Kent Peterson says that gives them time to craft legislation.
“It’s just a way to have that available to us because we are under a time crunch. We are on a very short time crunch. We have 37 days to get this done. Not to mention this year with the amount of one-time funds we’re dealing with. That is a whole other thing that is not typical. So, I think those are there, they are very appropriate and they will be used if need be.”
Both recreational and medical marijuana legalization goes into effect on July 1st.