Mississippi, South Dakota Approve Medical Marijuana

Voters in two red states, Mississippi and South Dakota, have approved initiatives allowing for medical marijuana. 

In Mississippi, Initiative 65 won an easy electoral two-step, with 68% of voters approving medical marijuana and then 74% approving Initiative 65 over a watered down legislative substitute. 

“It is great to see that the tides of change are continuing to flow across the country and now they have come to Mississippi,” said Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which was founded in 1995 and has played a central role in eight state-level legalization victories over the past eight years. “As we saw in Utah in 2018, and as we see in Mississippi this year, medical marijuana can pass in any state in the country.”

In South Dakota, Measure 26 was winning with 69% of the vote late Tuesday night. It would allow patients with debilitating medical conditions to possess up to three ounces of marijuana and grow up to three plants. The initiative also establishes a state medical marijuana program with dispensaries, licensed cultivators, and testing operations,

They become the 36th and 37th states to legalize marijuana.