South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, R, is entering into the last year of her first term as governor. And voters are relatively positive about her experience. Overall, she received a 61 percent approval rating.
However, there was one area Noem did not impress voters. And it came to how she handled cannabis legalization and implementation. The 2020 general election would present both medical and recreational cannabis legalization bills before voters, and Noem urged against it.
“It’s not good for our kids. And it’s not going to improve our communities,” Governor Noem said. “As your governor, I’m urging all South Dakotans to vote no on legalizing marijuana this November.”
Both cannabis bills still passed despite her efforts to stop them. Therefore, during the regular session of 2021, Noem presented her own bill to delay medical cannabis and to rewrite the way voters drafted their measure. Activists fought back against her and medical cannabis legalized on time.
Additionally, her office funded a lawsuit against Amendment A, which legalized recreational cannabis, through tax payer money. Most recently, the South Dakota Supreme Court did overturn Amendment A on a technicality, keeping recreational cannabis illegal.
Results
With how much she has pushed back against cannabis legalization and the will of the South Dakota voters, it’s no surprise her cannabis approval rating is low.
Breaking down the results, Noem had a 39 percent approval rating on how she handled cannabis legalization in 2021. Her disapproval rating sat at 59 percent, a large majority. Breaking down the results further, the poll shows that 28 percent of Republicans, 38 percent of Democrats, and 39 percent of independents strongly disapprove of Noem’s performance with cannabis legalization this year. An additional 16 percent Republicans, 23 percent Democrats, and 17 percent independents somewhat disapprove of Noem’s performance.
Change of Opinion
Even though she originally opposed the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis, Noem seems to have embraced medical cannabis legalization.
“I’m proud of the job the Department of Health did in streamlining this process,” Governor Noem tweeted about medical cannabis. “My Administration is fully on board to make certain South Dakota continues to implement the most responsible, patient-focused medical cannabis program in the country.”
With medical cannabis legal and prescription cards beginning to ship out to patients, activists now turn to recreational cannabis. They’ve begun gathering signatures for another ballot measure and they won’t make the same mistake twice. Recreational cannabis, along with Governor Noem, will be up during the 2022 election. Even though a majority disapprove of how Noem handled cannabis, Republicans remain positive that Noem will be reelected. As more information becomes available, we will update you with the latest.
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