SOUTH DAKOTA MEDICAL MARIJUANA ON BALLOT DrugSense FOCUS Alert #429 - Tuesday, 26 January 2010 Last week, South Dakotans were able to get twice the 16,776 signatures required to put a medical marijuana question on the state's ballot next November. In an effort led by the South Dakota Coalition for Compassion, http://www.sdcompassion.org/ over 30,000 South Dakotans signed a petition to allow the question to be put before voters. The report, below, describes and outlines the status of the medical marijuana initiative ballot question in South Dakota. Now, South Dakotan voters need to be educated about the harms of arrest, jail, and prison for medical marijuana patients. A similar ballot question was only narrowly defeated by voters in 2006. By using MAP's newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org?q=South+Dakota you can follow South Dakota's medical marijuana news, as it breaks. In MAP's unique archive of drug news spanning a decade and a half, you can research marijuana and drug policy news from South Dakota at http://mapinc.org/area/South+Dakota Writing letters to the editor to newspapers in South Dakota and the surrounding area about medical marijuana can help to get people thinking about this issue. Contacts for many newspapers may be found at http://mapinc.org/media.htm Updated facts on medical marijuana you may wish to use are at http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/54 Archived articles and opinion items about medical marijuana are posted daily at http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 and breaking news about medical marijuana may be found at http://drugnewsbot.org/topic/medical_cannabis.htm Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 Source: Lawrence County Government Examiner (Web) Author: Traci Wangen Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/wVXPUdl7 SOUTH DAKOTA TO VOTE ON SAFE ACCESS ACT In 2010, South Dakota residents will once again vote on the legalization of medical marijuana. The South Dakota Coalition for Compassion, a non-profit group compromised of physicians, patients, law enforcement officials and private citizens, submitted 30,000 signatures to the South Dakota Secretary of State this week, 16, 776 more signatures than required to get the initiative on the ballot. The South Dakota Secretary of State will now examine the signatures, validate each, and certify the initiative so that it can be put on the November ballot. Last time South Dakotans voted on the legalization of medical marijuana in 2006, the state initiative was defeated 53% to 48%. This time South Dakota Coalition for Compassion is hoping for the passage of the Safe Access Act. The initiative was sponsored by Patrick K. Lynch, former chairman of the board for the North Central States Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and drafted with the help of the Marijuana Policy Project. http://www.mpp.org/about The initiative, if passed into law, would allow medical marijuana card holders to possess one ounce of marijuana if they have been diagnosed or treated for certain cancers, glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, seizures or multiple sclerosis, along with other specifically diagnosable ailments. The initiative outlines specific disabilities that qualify patients for use, rules regarding registration cards, distribution, and rules for establishing a registry for medical marijuana users. The entire initiative can be read at http://www.sdcompassion.org/sdsaa.htm PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International Drug Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org =.

Focus Alert Archive