A majority of voters in South Dakota support legalizing both recreational and medicinal cannabis on November 3, a new poll released this week indicated. 

South Dakota is the first state that will vote on legalizing both recreational sales and the medical use of cannabis this November 3. According to the survey released by Argus Leader Media and KELO-TV, 51% of voters appear to be in favor of recreational marijuana as opposed to 44% who said they would vote against the measure. 

At the same time, the poll suggested much broader support for legalizing medical marijuana as 74% of voters said they will vote yes. On the other hand, only 23% of respondents said they intend to vote against medical pot, while 3% declared themselves undecided on the matter.

It was 1996. I was four years old. California Proposition 215 passed and for the first time, legal medical cannabis became available. I don’t remember it honestly, but that moment triggered a reckoning of outdated and ineffective efforts to control cannabis, which continues on November 3rd.

The moment in 1996 created for me and my generation of millennials a new, decriminalized lens for which to view cannabis and its potential. In my lifetime, from first experimenting with cannabis after high school and then earning my PhD in plant biochemistry, advancing cannabis research, to starting an agtech company dedicated to the genetic improvement of cannabis, we continue this march toward legalization. But another march hasn’t started yet.

While ruby red South Dakota may not be a swing state in the presidential election -- it may be at the forefront of the green revolution as one of five states where recreational and medical marijuana legalization are up for a vote this election year.

And it is the only state where both forms of legalization will be on the ballot.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the Industrial Hemp Plan submitted by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture. The department is currently working to promulgate emergency administrative rules to establish a program in accordance with state law and the USDA approved plan. South Dakota Farmers Union Lobbyist Mitch Richter is pleased it’s moving forward as his group has been pushing for this plan for some time.

He says while there won’t be a huge number of acres of industrial hemp planted, there will be some farmers who will want to try growing the crop.

Richter says another positive for farmers being allwed to grow industrial hemp is the spin off economic development it will create.

There are expected to be a number of fast-growing trends this decade, including cloud computing, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. But don't sleep on marijuana.

After generating an estimated $10.9 billion in worldwide sales in 2018, legal channel cannabis sales are expected to hit anywhere from $50 billion to $200 billion a year by 2030, according to various Wall Street estimates. Yes, this is a pretty wide range, but it's to be expected of an industry that's never been legalized in the modern era, and which has tens of billions of dollar in activity occurring behind the scenes.

Read entire article at Technical 420.

With the November election being less than two months away, many investors are trying to determine which states will pass legislation that is pro-cannabis.

The opening of new markets has been one of the most significant growth drivers in the US. Another major growth driver is the transition from being a medical only market to a recreational market. If you look at the performance of states like Illinois and Michigan, you will notice that there has been an incremental increase in the amount of cannabis that is being sold and we expect to see additional states go this route in November.