{"id":38503,"date":"2025-03-08T11:24:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T16:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/lawmakers-approve-rollback-of-south-dakotas-uniquely-severe-drug-ingestion-penalties\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T11:24:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T16:24:28","slug":"lawmakers-approve-rollback-of-south-dakotas-uniquely-severe-drug-ingestion-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/lawmakers-approve-rollback-of-south-dakotas-uniquely-severe-drug-ingestion-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers approve rollback of South Dakota\u2019s uniquely severe drug ingestion penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"
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State Rep. Brian Mulder, R-Sioux Falls, speaks on the South Dakota House floor on Jan. 22, 2025. (Makenzie Huber\/South Dakota Searchlight)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

State House sends bill to governor that would change first and second offenses from felonies to misdemeanors<\/em><\/p>\n

The future of South Dakota\u2019s drug ingestion law \u2014 often described as the most severe in the nation \u2014 is in the hands of Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden.<\/p>\n

The House of Representatives voted\u00a037-33<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre to pass a bill that would, with Rhoden\u2019s signature, reduce the use of controlled substances from a felony to a misdemeanor for the first two offenses.<\/p>\n

The state is the only one in the nation with a law that allows a failed drug test for a felony-level narcotic to serve as the basis for a prison sentence. Marijuana ingestion is always a misdemeanor. Under\u00a0Senate Bill 83<\/a>, all other forms of ingestion would become a misdemeanor until the third offense.<\/p>\n

A Rhoden spokeswoman told South Dakota Searchlight that he will consider the bill \u201conce it reaches his desk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor previously signaled a willingness to consider alternative approaches to criminal justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy philosophy is that the best way to fight crime is to hire more officers, not to increase penalties,\u201d Rhoden told a joint session of the state House and Senate\u00a0last month<\/a>. \u201cIncreasing penalties just means we have to build even more prisons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latter point hearkens to a yearslong debate over how best to deal with overcrowding in the state\u2019s correctional facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A bill to fund construction of a 1,500-bed, $825 million men\u2019s prison in Lincoln County has\u00a0failed<\/a>\u00a0to earn lawmaker support in the face of opposition from its neighbors, its hefty price tag and concerns about its size.<\/p>\n

On the day the House opted to send him the ingestion change proposal, Rhoden inked an executive order to\u00a0create a working group<\/a>\u00a0he hopes will find \u201ca path forward\u201d for a prison or prisons.<\/p>\n

Critics of the state\u2019s ingestion law, who\u2019ve tried to repeal or otherwise adjust its severity nearly every year since 2019, argue that the law stigmatizes addiction and makes the problem worse. Ingestion also contributes to the state\u2019s prison population, they say, and saddles users with felonies that make it harder to find jobs, get housing and stay sober.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have ever loved somebody who has been trapped in that cycle of substance use, you can understand how them being charged with a felony is not going to help them get better,\u201d said Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls. \u201cIt is not going to help them find rehabilitation. If anything, it leads to further shame and demonization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Brian Mulder, R-Sioux Falls, was the bill\u2019s prime sponsor in the House. Sen. Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule,\u00a0introduced<\/a>\u00a0the bill in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Mulder has pushed for restrictions on marijuana-like products made from delta-8 THC, as well as on an intoxicating substance called kratom and on foreign-made nicotine vape products. He talked about his passion for those issues during the debate on ingestion, but said \u201cI work in addiction treatment,\u201d and \u201cwhat we are doing is not working.\u201d Mulder is the managing director of Volunteers of America-Dakotas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot continue to do the same thing and expect different results,\u201d Mulder said.<\/p>\n

The existing law\u2019s backers argue that drugs in the hand and drugs in the system are one in the same and ought to be treated as such.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make a powerful statement today from the South Dakota House of Representatives that drugs are dangerous to the public, to their health and to their safety,\u201d said Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, R-Spearfish. \u201cVoting for this bill and decriminalizing drug use will send a mixed message to our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those charged with ingestion typically get several chances to complete treatment and probation before they go to prison, the existing law\u2019s backers say. The law can also help prosecutors secure convictions via plea deal in cases where a user has more serious charges.<\/p>\n

But Rep. Liz May, R-Kyle, was among several lawmakers to say that the current approach has done little to move the needle toward rehabilitation. Lawmakers have created nine new felonies this session alone, she said, instead of spending money on rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you keep putting felonies on the books, we\u2019re going to have to build another prison,\u201d May said. \u201cSo I would strongly encourage everybody: Get this off the books. Let\u2019s try something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Lawmakers approve rollback of South Dakota\u2019s uniquely severe drug ingestion penalties<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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State Rep. Brian Mulder, R-Sioux Falls, speaks on the South Dakota House floor on Jan. 22, 2025. (Makenzie Huber\/South Dakota Searchlight) State House sends bill to governor that would change first and second offenses from felonies to misdemeanors The future of South Dakota\u2019s drug ingestion law \u2014 often described as <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> March 8, 2025<\/p>\n

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