Cannabis in South Dakota — The State Where Voters Approved Rec and Courts Erased It
In November 2020, the same SD electorate that gave Donald Trump a 26-point margin simultaneously approved both medical cannabis (Initiated Measure 26, 70%/30%) and adult-use cannabis (Constitutional Amendment A, 54.18%/45.82%). One year later, the SD Supreme Court struck down Amendment A 4–1 in Thom v. Barnett. South Dakota is the only state where voters approved adult-use legalization at the ballot box and the courts erased it. The medical program survived: 18,759 patient cards as of April 2026.
In November 2020, the same SD electorate that gave Donald Trump a 26-point margin simultaneously approved both medical cannabis (Initiated Measure 26, 70%/30%) and adult-use cannabis (Constitutional Amendment A, 54.18%/45.82%). One year later, the SD Supreme Court struck down Amendment A 4–1 in Thom v. Barnett. Read the South Dakota cannabis laws, browse the map, understand the measure 26, check out the minnesota montana, explore the sioux falls, and see the wounded knee aim.
The Only State Where Voters Approved Rec and Courts Erased It
On November 3, 2020, South Dakota voters approved Constitutional Amendment A 54.18%/45.82% — legalizing adult-use cannabis on a constitutional level. Less than a month later, Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom and SD Highway Patrol Col. Rick Miller filed suit. On January 8, 2021, Gov. Kristi Noem ratified the lawsuit by executive order and directed taxpayer funds toward the litigation.
On November 24, 2021, the South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the lower-court ruling 4–1 in Thom v. Barnett, 2021 S.D. 65 — holding that Amendment A "embraced at least three separate and distinct subjects" violating Article XXIII § 1’s single-subject rule (a rule SD voters had themselves added in 2018). South Dakota became, and remains, the only U.S. state where voters approved adult-use legalization at the ballot box and the courts overturned it before any sales occurred. Two recreational re-attempts (IM 27 in 2022, IM 29 in 2024) both failed. SDBML’s Matthew Schweich publicly announced he is finished after the 2024 loss. As of May 2026, no SDBML-led 2026 ballot measure has been certified.
SDCL § 22-42-5.1 makes ingestion of cannabis metabolites independently prosecutable. State v. Schroeder (2004) and State v. Whistler (2014) upheld convictions on urinalysis evidence alone. SB 83 (2025) reduced first/second-offense ingestion to a Class 1 misdemeanor effective July 1, 2025, but the doctrine survives. A SD resident who legally consumed cannabis in MN over a weekend can return home and face an ingestion charge based on metabolites alone.
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe’s Native Nations Cannabis dispensary opened July 1, 2022 — the first legal medical-cannabis sale in SD history, ahead of state-licensed competitors. Vertically integrated 10,000-square-foot indoor cultivation; 10K+ tribal cards issued. The Pine Ridge Reservation legalized both medical and recreational in March 2020 — No Worries dispensary + 3+ other licensees operate under tribal law.
MN adult-use legal Aug 2023 (HF 100, Gov. Walz); first state-licensed retail Sept 16, 2025 (Vireo / Green Goods). MT adult-use legal Jan 2022. Sioux Falls–Minneapolis ~3 hrs; Rapid City–Hardin/Crow MT ~2 hrs. Crossing back into SD with cannabis is a federal felony plus SD criminal exposure.
SD's concentrate-felony rule under SDCL § 22-42-2 makes possession or distribution of hashish or concentrates a Class 4 felony (10 yrs / $20K) with 1-year mandatory minimum on first conviction — among the harshest in the U.S. Per se DUI threshold is 5 ng/mL THC blood concentration under SDCL § 32-23-1. Drivers under 21 face zero-tolerance metabolite-presence rule under § 32-23-21.
Where Patient Access, Federal Land, and Tourism Sit
Sioux Falls (banking + healthcare hub, $50K local permit fee), Rapid City (Black Hills gateway, 6 dispensaries), Pierre (state capital, SDDOH HQ), Aberdeen + Brookings (college towns), Sturgis (motorcycle rally tourism). Plus the Flandreau Santee Sioux Reservation in the east and the Pine Ridge Reservation in the west — the two operating tribal-cannabis programs in the state.
Tribal Sovereignty, Wounded Knee, and the Pine Ridge Story
South Dakota is home to nine federally recognized tribes (~9% of the state population, 2nd-highest west of the Mississippi after Alaska). Wounded Knee 1890 and the AIM 1973 occupation are not abstractions in South Dakota — Pine Ridge remains the locus of the modern Native sovereignty conversation, including its 2020 cannabis-legalization vote. The Flandreau Santee Sioux’s Native Nations Cannabis was the state’s first medical sale; the Pine Ridge dispensary network is, in a real sense, an extension of long-standing tribal arguments about treaty-protected economic self-determination.
Wounded Knee & AIM LegacyFor in-depth cannabis education, dosing guides, safety information, and research summaries, visit our partner site TryCannabis.org