In reference to pot, Speaker of the House Haugaard says the role of government is to “never exercise a vice upon the citizens” 

Pat Powers

From the Argus Leader, Speaker of the House Steve Haugaard says that legislators need to resist “the steamroller” of bringing legalized pot into the state.

“In Colorado, we’ve tried to grow the industry in a responsible manner, but when you are faced with 80 industry lobbyists to my one at the department, you need legislators to help back you up and you can’t forget that you have a lot of control over the system, if you choose to go in this direction,” Robinson said.

Rep. Steven Haugaard, R-Sioux Falls, pointed out that the role of government is to “never exercise a vice upon the citizens” and questioned how state officials can stop the “steamroller” of legalized marijuana.

“It seems to me that it’s my generation and maybe a few years older, on down, that’s giddy with excitement that we’re going to have this marijuana we can smoke. I just find it so highly irresponsible on the part of adults to facilitate this process and think that we can’t resist the lobbyists,” Haugaard said.

Read the entire story here.

84 thoughts on “In reference to pot, Speaker of the House Haugaard says the role of government is to “never exercise a vice upon the citizens” ”

  1. Speaker Haugaard: Given the level of your success at getting your own bills passed, perhaps you should sign up to sponsor a pot bill. That would certainly guarantee its demise.

    1. Libertarian Party of South Dakota

      “We’re searching for more ways to violate your rights because that’s the only way we know how to solve problems.” -Government

  2. Haugard’s completely miss the mark and are, in and of itself, irresponsible statements. Gone are the times of “reefer madness”, and the entrenched old guard in the political system do not resonate with the people. What is irresponsible? It is irresponsible to completely turn a blind eye to medicinal use, hemp derivatives, and educating younger generations. What is completely outrageous in this state is that non-leaf like marijuana products are a class 6 felony. Seriously, if you get caught with 1 gummy, you can be punished up to a year in prison. Haugard’s statements are irresponsible, careless, and out of touch. But this is just one young “irresponsible” Republican voter.

  4. “It seems to me that it’s my generation and maybe a few years older, on down, that’s giddy with excitement”

    So, everyone then?

  5. It’s not up to you, Speaker. If all these people are giddy with excitement then make it happen. Are you working for the people of SD or yourself?

  6. I’d like to take this opportunity to remind Speaker Haugaard that the SD State Constitution he serves under as a State Representative exists to limit the government, not the People.

    The role and mandate of government is NOT to make decisions for individuals. In fact, per our Bill of Rights (Article 6, § 1), one of government’s mandates is to protect the People’s ability to pursue happiness, be it for health, recreation or otherwise.

    2. I have read more condescending and patronizing posts at times, but can’t remember when.

  7. Marijuana legalization will make the wreckage caused by video lottery on families, businesses, communities and taxpayers look like nothing in South Dakota. No to the legalization scam. 9 states have now turned it back with all the data and chronic issues coming from the 10 states that pursued this failed experiment.

    1. By your logic I guess we’d better get on with outlawing guns, cheeseburgers, cigarettes and combustion engines since we obviously can’t trust people to use them responsibly.

      Everybody has their vices. Why are yours special enough to be legal?

      1. By your logic everything in the Libertarian Party would be legal. Everything and it would simply bring chaos with a fine line where citizens may start taking the law into their own hands.

    2. This is an outright lie. No states have “turned it back.” Over 20+ years into this (if you include medical legalization) and not one has re-criminalized. Not a single one.

      This is exactly what the founders envisioned — the states acting as laboratories of democracy. With respect to marijuana legalization, the experiment has worked exceptionally well … for the states that have had the courage to do what’s right.

      SD should follow suit.

      2. The citizens of Pueblo County in Colorado tried to repeal but were heavily outspent by the marijuana industry including the Drug Policy Alliance funded by George Soros which has an end goal of legalizing all drugs.

        1. If there was widespread, majority support for re-criminalization, it would have happened. In Pueblo and everywhere else. Instead, it’s just the opposite. The majority supports legalization, in most of the country.

          1. not in south Dakota…4 times the people have said no either by voting or not giving enough of their signatures to put it on the ballot…SLOW LEARNERS..but I guess thy are pot heads

          2. No! The majority of citizens and especially legislatures across the country are catching on to what a mistake legalization was. Check out “Seattle is Dying”

            Fist it will be today’s high potency marijuana which is not even close to what is was back in the 60s thru the 80s. Then it will be magic mushrooms, other psychedelics and then all drugs. Good thing South Dakota has good gun laws because when these users have a psychotic break and or run out of money they may be breaking into houses and personal property. We have enough issues to deal with. We don’t need more.

            1. Get back to us when one of those “legislatures across the country” re-criminalizes marijuana.

  8. Does Gideon support abortion? That is where libertarians lose me. Haugaard is a good man.

    1. There are no “good” answers when it comes to unintended pregnancies, but I personally believe there are worse answers. I am pro-life because I am pro-NAP. And though it sounds paradoxical, a lot of Libertarians are pro-choice because they are also pro-NAP.

      For those not familiar, the NAP (Non-Aggression Principle) is the foundational doctrine of the Libertarian Party. Boiled down to the simplest language, it affirms that no one has the right to force anyone else to do anything against their will. My personal point of view says that abortion is a violation of the NAP. The other view says forcing a woman to endure a pregnancy she did not intend is a violation of the NAP.

      The official party platform simply states that there are good-faith points of view on both sides of the issue, but reaffirming that government should not be the decision-maker in people’s personal decisions. I am able to justify aligning myself with that stance.

      And by the way, I also agree that Speaker Haugaard is a good man. But he is wrong on this issue.

  9. “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” —Alexander Hamilton.

    Thank you Speaker Haugard.

    1. “In France, there is an army of patrols (as they are called) constantly employed to secure their fiscal regulations against the inroads of the dealers in contraband trade… The arbitrary and vexatious powers with which the patrols are necessarily armed, would be intolerable in a free country.”

      Alexander Hamilton — Federalist No. 12

    2. “Prison is for rapists, thieves, and murderers. If you lock someone up for smoking a plant that makes them happy, then you’re the f***ing criminal.” -Joe Rogan

      1. Tara do you believe people being sent to prison for smoking a joint here in South Dakota? Jail? Really?

      2. Tara 20 years /life sentenced to San Quentin for smoking a joint?

        Someone must have forced them against their will to smoke weed knowing it was illegal.

        1. These folks could be working and providing for their families instead of wasting taxpayers money by sitting in jail.

            2. So because the punishment isn’t severe it should remain illegal? What an idiotic argument.

              1. Did someone force them against their will to smoke weed? They knew it was against the law. Hmmm! If they were forced to do an illegal act but if they knowingly did something that was illegal then they should quite playing the victim, own up and seek treatment.

                1. They are trying to change the law, dipshit. You’re the one who is saying the law doesn’t need to change because the penalties aren’t severe.

  10. I’ll expect him to sponsor a bill abolishing video lottery then. A true vice that keeps tens of thousands in this state in the poor house.

    1. They tried to at least start down that road last legislative session and I support them on that.

    3. There is to much money in video lottery just as there is to much money to be made prohibiting marijuana.

  11. South Dakota has enough trouble with driving while intoxicated with alcohol. Just how is it wise to add driving while high to the mix? I think SD is ahead of the times, not behind on this issue, by being proactive in not creating more problems.

    As regards the statement above that the govt shouldn’t be the decision maker in people’s personal decisions, what if it’s my personal decision to drive a car without insurance? What if it’s my personal decision to not pay my taxes? Just two examples, but the govt has assumed the right to assert itself in personal decisions, especially when it’s for the common good. And I for one applaud SD’s asserting itself here to protect me from meeting a person high on marijuana on the road.

    And marijuana is gateway drug to other drugs. Why would we want to abet more drug use?

    1. Take all prescription drugs away because many of them say not to drive while taking them. What ever happened to common sense? My goodness we aren’t babies.

    2. You lose the argument when you bring up gateway drug. You know what my gateway drug was? Booze, which led me to cigarettes. I stopped there, and thankfully was able to quit those nasty things. Ask any pot smoker and I doubt their first drug was the reefer. For most though it was probably their last, not counting prescriptions of course.

      1. Weed is dangerous because if you smoke it for the first time you will realize that everything you were told to fear about it was a lie.

  12. If I want someone to watch out for me, the last place I would look is the ultra-moralist speaker, governor and legislature!

  13. Former wrestling star turned politician Jesse Ventura is arguably the biggest cannabis proponent in the country. His book Jesse Ventura’s Marijuana Manifesto clearly suggests that marijuana should be legalized for both medical and recreational purposes.

    Ventura has also been a strong opponent of the war on drugs in the U.S, and notes that the legalization movement has had a positive societal impact. He points out that every state that’s legalized weed has seen a decline in heroin usage, the opposite of what certain pundits have suggested would happen if weed were legalized.

  14. “Under God The People Rule” … I think not so long as inmates such as Haugaard and Noem and other legislative leaders are running our asylum!

  15. Forget legalization. Minnesota will do it and most of us live within 30 miles of the border. They’ll tax it sensibly and we’ll all save money.
    Do you think people will take the advice of Haugaard who was trying to tell women how to dress because it made him horny? Fat chance!

  17. I was ok with legalizing pot until a trip out to Portland a few months ago. Recreational use is legal there.
    What a mess: they might as well have posted signs welcoming all the world’s deadbeats and losers to their state.
    That’s what happens when a state legalizes marijuana, everybody who wants to sleep on the sidewalks and panhandle for a living shows up. They come for the weed, stay because they can’t think of anyplace else to go. They won’t contribute anything to the economy, they crap in the street, leave trash everywhere, and make the productive residents move away. You can spend years and lots of taxpayer money analyzing the issue that these people are mentally ill and are self-medicating with marijuana. It’s not hard to figure out. Somebody will probably want millions of dollars in a government grant to prove it.
    Or, we just keep the demon weed illegal and let them all move to states where it’s legal. They can become somebody else’s problem. Somebody else can supply them with homeless shelters, soup kitchens, Medicaid and food stamps.

    1. Anne is clueless once again. She is trying to make a correlation of marijuana legalization with the influx of homeless and poverty stricken in Portland without acknowledging the increase of those gop “undesirables” has nothing to do with pot and everything to do with their social protections and local laws assisting those individuals to try and overcome their conditions. It’s time for Anne and her generation to be put out to pasture, or sent adrift might be better.

      1. facts are facts. abstain from smoking that garbage, sober up and you will see the world far different where facts matter and Anne is right on this one.

    2. Anne is trying to blame pot for homelessness and drug addiction. That is like trying to blame guns for killing people. Stop with the victim mentality and trying to rely on government to change people and keep prohibition going. Next thing these prohibitionists are going to want is to outlaw is guns.

        1. Good question……I am for recreational and medicinal pot for adults only. Regulate it like alcohol. Hard drugs….well I think families and friends and drug addicts should be able to call for support, guidance and help without worrying about being thrown in jail. I like what the real experts have to say, not the politicians. Yes, I am a Libertarian this week. I have tried every party along with being Independent, but my views have always been my views. I don’t get into the duopoly. So far, I do like the Libertarian party and I am quite impressed with Gideon and the gang.

  18. They can go to Seattle, Portland, Denver and the other cities where it is legal. Feces on the sidewalks, the smell of urine and skunk is everywhere. Every state that has legalized has had chronic regulatory issues besides being a big drain on their state budgets. Mold, toxic chemicals in the weed but the users don’t seem to care as long as they can get their high plus they think weed cures everything.

    1. So do these homeless people use hypodermic needles to shoot marijuana into their system. Get your facts straight and get off those prescription mind altering drugs. One major problem with homelessness is due to sanctuary cities and homeless vets due to mental illness.

        1. Shelter who? I have housed homeless people before. It’s a very difficult job. I also bought a trailer for a homeless family and their kids. That was a disaster. I found them jobs and all they had to do was pay the utilities. Well the pipes froze like 3 times. They totally trashed it……I could write a book about my experiences with the homeless. Bottom line, the help is there but it’s got to be up to them to change their life and respect people’s property. But first they have to respect themselves. I am not speaking for everybody, just my experiences.

          1. legalizing more drugs like weed when their use is commercialized and normalized will just increase more people like you tried to help out but are caught up in the cycle of addiction, dysfunction and poor choices. Visit with Tim Bjorkman sometime. He could tell you all sorts of stories he witnessed from the bench.

            1. I saw him sentence a kid who had a family to 4 years. He has to go by the morbid laws of SD.

    2. You’re saying that big cities with nice weather have homeless problems? Why I never…

  19. Regardless of what the vice is, there are consequences associated with that vice. If pot is legalized, perhaps we can put in a clause that if your life is destroyed by smoking joints instead of making a living, then you cannot use public welfare. If you have children in your household, they cannot be there. They will be removed and adopted (not fostered) to loving families. If you seek treatment then the state could offer that. The problem with these vices is nobody wants to deal with the consequences.

    1. This is a good idea to implement across the board. Marijuana, tobacco, alcohol, sugar, etc.

    3. Treatment for pot??????? Really. You want to talk about pot so you don’t have to talk about the real drug issues such as prescription drugs which is the gateway to street drugs.

      1. Sure, Tara, why not for pot? Long term smokers of cannabis tend to have chemical reasons for lacking motivation. When a pothead decides to use pot instead of working, they become a drain on society, sort of like those people you tried to help. If you think legalized pot can be regulated, tell me how well that works for alcohol. Do you believe it is appropriate for adults to be smoking joints while their kids are around? Most people think nothing of a beer or cocktail or smoking a cigarette. I suspect we need less ways of messing up peoples’ lives rather than more.

        1. Of course you don’t smoke pot or drink in front of your kids. But a lot of adults that smoke MJ do it for recreational and medicinal purposes. Again, it goes back to personal responsibility and common sense. I don’t need big brother telling me how to live my life. You guys are talking down to responsible people. Get over it.

  20. Just visit Seattle, San Francisco or Portland for yourself. See what turning your city into a magnet for mentally ill people will do for you.
    Marijuana didn’t cause the mental illness that manifests itself as homelessness, chronic unemployment and anti-social behavior; they developed those problems someplace else.
    Legal marijuana gave them a destination. They use the drugs to self-medicate, and as long as they can self-medicate, they won’t seek treatment. They moved to those cities because marijuana was available. They were homeless, unemployed and sick long before they arrived, (My niece told me some arrived by bus from California, courtesy of a community which wanted to get rid of them.)
    Even the die-hard bleeding heart liberals out there are starting to figure out that all the soup kitchens, social services, handouts, shelters, etc aren’t actually helping these people. They need actual treatment. They need jobs. But they will not seek either as long as they can have marijuana.

    1. Anne this is crazy talk. Currently, anyone can get marijuana literally anywhere, not just the cities you mentioned. The idea that homeless/mentally ill people are drawn to Seattle, Portland, etc. because of legal marijuana is pure fantasy. As if they care about breaking the law. In reality, these cities are wracked by opiate/meth abuse. Any social harm being caused by potheads is minuscule compared to that.

      But then again, what you’re really making is an argument to legalize marijuana everywhere. If these undesirable people you mention could legally get marijuana anywhere, there’d be no reason to flock to one state or city in particular.

      Very few people in South Dakota who want to be smoking marijuana aren’t already doing so. You know that, right? All that commerce is already happening. Any harm that would result from legalizing marijuana is already happening. Let’s bring that commerce into the light of day, tax and regulate it, and use the proceeds to fund schools and alcohol and meth treatment facilities. Those substances cause FAR more harm in SD than marijuana EVER will.

      2. Anne is part of the Republican propaganda machine. Playing on the fear factor. lol.

    2. Been to all three, Anne. It is quite the mess but it has nothing to do with legal weed. You need to educate yourself on the actual causes of their problems rather than trying to correlate it to something that you have absolutely no proof of. If you think SD’s homeless problem will get much worse because of legalized marijuana, I have some ocean front property in the Black hills you can buy. You can get pot just as easy as alcohol, even in Colman SD.

      1. The marijuana industry is a poverty industry and yes it will contribute to it in a few ways. It will be welcomed by the Tobacco industry which is heavily investing in MJ, the alcohol industry probably investing in it too, rent to own, payday lenders, video lottery and others so MJ industry fits right in there. Where are these pot shops located in the highest density? Black and brown neighborhoods, more economically depressed areas, lower income and not near any gated communities. The lower the income the higher amount spent on weed. They have the least amount of disposable income but will go towards weed.

        Today’s super high potency weed places users at a higher risk of either making an existing mental illness worse and/or bringing out an underlying mental illness. “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence” By Alex Berenson is a must read for South Dakotans. Former NYT writer. Big Tobacco 2.0 and the pot addicts see this as a threat so they will naturally attack this author but that is to be expected.

        1. So if you really believe what you are saying, then why are you hiding behind a fake name?

          1. Big Marijuana is trying to do everything they can to discredit him and others speaking up against pot. It is all about the money and citizens including legislatures are catching on making it much more difficult to push this thru in other states.

          2. A number of marijuana companies that were banking on legalization are losing money big time. Even the Drug Policy Alliance a national lobbying group pushing full legalization of marijuana and then all drugs funded by George Soros has been losing money and is now downscaling it’s operations. The scam has been exposed.

    3. I do agree with one of your points. They need treatment and jobs, not incarceration. Legalize it.

  21. Quit drug testing for marijuana. Most of them are very good workers and students. Just check out the IVY League.

Comments are closed.