South Dakota law enforcement industry would lose millions to legal cannabis

South Dakota has the most draconian cannabis laws in the US and until recently law enforcement industry henchmen could even force catheters into urethras to test possession by ingestion. Jamming a tube into someone's urethra without consent is rape, even torture. The practice had been encouraged by disgraced Republican former South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley.

Policing for Profit has enabled the Division of Criminal Investigation to provide military armaments for the industry throughout South Dakota where most believe prostitution will be legal before cannabis laws are amended. But in my home state the school to prison enterprise is worried cannabis reform will lead to less revenue for police departments so expect Republican Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg to be exonerated after killing Joe Boever with his car and if either cannabis measure passes he’ll immediately sue to have them struck down in court. 

Democratic former US Senator Tom Daschle, US Attorney Brendan Johnson and public radio personality Rick Steves are urging voters to end the prohibition on cannabis.

The fact is: because of an absence of leadership far many more people have died of COVID-19 in South Dakota in 2020 than have died this year in Colorado fatal car crashes linked to cannabis but the Trump Organization is bribing Republican governors like Kristi Noem to repress cannabis rights. 

The money sent by Congress as part of a $2.2 trillion stimulus was a major windfall for South Dakota, a state that prides itself on low taxes and a minimal state budget. Its share is equivalent to roughly a quarter of the state budget. But the funds came with the stipulation that they be used in addressing the pandemic and anything unused would be returned at the end of the year. Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration opted to use the money to pay salaries for law enforcement officers. So far, the state has used $4.5 million to pay salaries and benefits in the Department of Public Safety, which mostly went to highway patrol officers. The state is also making $200 million available to city and county governments, and they can pay police officers’ salaries from the fund. [Associated Press]

If either or both of the ballot initiatives pass and the Neanderthal #sdleg had any integrity or ethics (they don’t) they would empower the tribal nations trapped in South Dakota to be the sole producers and marketers of legal cannabis in the state. https://t.co/SKyJbEqhqb

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) September 22, 2020