Governor of South Dakota not happy with latest decision

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) is back slamming the state's voters for the vote to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational uses. During her annual budget speech this week, she wanted to mention "a budgetary stipulation related to the disappointing votes on marijuana at the ballot box this year" and that there are "significant security and regulatory costs associated with both the medical marijuana measure and the recreational measure are connected." According to Noem, the budget is now being complicated by a legal battle challenging the adult reform measure. The governor said she "needs to present two courses of action - one way forward with both recreational and medicinal marijuana, and a second with only medical marijuana." The reform measure for medical cannabis is not legally challenged. According to Noem, South Dakota "will not see any marijuana revenue until at least April 2022, although it could be longer." "And in the meantime, to meet the given timeline, the Department of Revenue needs to get to work now," she said. "Those funds would go into staff, technology, consultants, and other costs until the program has enough revenue to keep it up and running. But there will be a number of other ancillary costs, such as security, training, and enforcement, among many others." "In addition, the Department of Health has specific needs related to the medical marijuana program," Noem added. "My budget recommends a little over $ 136,000 over three years to cover staff and other costs associated with setting up a program. That should be enough to cover the program costs until revenue is generated." "Hopefully in the coming weeks we will know more about which path to take," she said. Two South Dakota law enforcement officers have filed a lawsuit against the recreational marijuana measure, which was partially state funded. The lawsuit alleges that the measure should be voided because it violates the one-topic rule, which states that "no proposed change may include more than one topic." "We respect our constitution in South Dakota," Noem told the Rapid City Journal last month. "I look forward to the court addressing the serious constitutional concerns raised in this lawsuit." Noem said after the election that she was "personally against these measures and firmly believes they are the wrong choice for the communities in South Dakota."