Article by Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and author of CBD For Baby Boomers! What You Need To Know!
In the midst of a Constitutional crisis resulting from the President’s efforts to annul an election that he lost, why should anyone be concerned about marijuana prohibition? Because it is all a part of the same problem. The suppression of democracy.
Of course, Marijuana was the big winner in the November election, which Trump lost by a “landslide.”
See Did Marijuana Prohibition Cost Trump The Election?
Absurdly, even before the people of Nebraska could get a chance to vote on a medical marijuana initiative, the state’s Governor joined forces with a sheriff and blocked it from the ballot.
See Who paid to bring down the medical marijuana ballot petition hidden from public
However, the nexus between Trumpery and marijuana prohibition is displayed most clearly in South Dakota where Governor Kristi Noem (R) issued an executive order allowing a legal challenge to the constitutionality of a November voter-approved amendment to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.
Noem was among the biggest opponents to marijuana legalization, calling the vote “the wrong choice”.
In the order, Noem argues that the “initiative process used to place” the amendment seeking to legalize marijuana and require the legislature to pass laws ensuring access to marijuana for medical use “was not proper and violated the procedures set forth in the South Dakota Constitution.”
Noem’s order also states that Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Rick Miller has legal standing to sue on the amendment because he is acting on behalf of the governor.
However, South Dakota’s Republican Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s office argued that the amendment was Constitutional and only covers one subject: cannabis.
Amendment A passed with 54 percent support in the Nov. 3 election, while a separate question on legalizing medical marijuana received nearly 70 percent.
But just who is Kristi Noem?
Noem has refused even to encourage her citizens to take any mitigation measures to fight the pandemic. Consequently, South Dakota has the second highest rate of COVID 19 cases per capita:
South Dakota — 11,425 per 100,000
Population: 884,659
The Washington Post has reported, “Data from the Federation of American Scientists in mid-November showed South Dakota’s per capita death rate was the third-highest of any hot spot worldwide in its data set. And Washington Post data show South Dakota has by far the highest per capita death rate in the country — 18.7 deaths per 100,000 people over the past seven days. Next highest is Kansas, at 10.2.”
As a further indication of her opposition to democracy Noem falsely called Georgia Senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff communists in a speech to the Republican National Committee.
The Argus Leader reports that Democrats blasted Noem for the comments. “Gov. Noem claims that ‘words have consequences,’ and there is no better example of this than her emulating President Trump’s rhetoric as she campaigned for him across the country,” said Pam Cole, executive director of the state Democratic Party.
