South Dakota drug legalization group desperate and calling for money and support from out of state drug allies

Pat Powers

Did I hit a nerve with my post about there not being enough time for the purveyors of pot to successfully refer to the voters their measure to put pot dispensaries on every small town Main Street in SD? Because Melissa Mentele appears to be in full freak out mode, especially since they haven’t started gathering signature one yet.

Yesterday, Melissa Mentele via her pot legalization group New Approach South Dakota took the time to “pooh pooh” my article noting they haven’t started collecting signatures yet and claim to be out of money, as evidenced by a screen shot of their own Facebook post begging for cash:

Why we need you all to sign, circulate and donate. The false narrative and lies are already starting before even one single signature has been collected. This is the Republican Spin Blog heavily funded by members of that party that have a financial interest in keeping hemp and cannabis illegal. He doesnt have much of a reach but he still gets people fired up by not telling the whole truth and planting seeds of distrust.

and…

We are at the stage of just waiting for the final ok from the state. We have broken no rules. We share this only to show you all that this isnt a cake walk in SD & there is real opposition. That opposition is paid to muddy the water and to cause chaos. PAID…to oppose medical access so many SD residents need.

Read that here.

“Heavily funded by members of that party that have a financial interest in keeping hemp and cannabis illegal.” and “That opposition is paid to muddy the water and to cause chaos.”  If someone is going to make a claim such as that, I do wish they’d show us where a dime has changed hands to oppose them. Because seriously, if someone is paying, I’d love to be paid for pointing out the truth about this pack of fools, because by doing it for free, someone is getting a bargain.

Despite all the pot queen’s deflective comments, it appears that she may have taken my post about it being impossible for them to succeed more seriously than she’s letting on via her organization.

Because on her personal Facebook page, she’s blasting out a panicked appeal to her out-of-state marijuana allies to bring their drug money into South Dakota because she only has 75 days to collect over 17k valid signatures:

“******HELP!****** . Industry friends & family! We are raising money to fund a petition drive to put medical access with home cultivation on the 2020 ballot in SD. We could definitely use a little assistance from our friends & allies across the US! We have 75 days to collect over 17K valid signatures to ensure ballot access.”

That does not sound like someone leading an organization with confidence. That sounds like someone who knows they’re in trouble, and knows it has all fallen apart before it has started. And now they’re begging for money from the out of state pot interests.

Without out-of-state drug money, Melissa Mentele know they’re sunk, just as they have been in the past. And no one has had to spend a dime to beat them, because their disorganization and lack of money has been their own worst enemy.

(But seriously, if someone wants to pay me to write how they’re failing, send me a note.)

30 thoughts on “South Dakota drug legalization group desperate and calling for money and support from out of state drug allies”

  1. It is just another example of a serious lack of credibility by the head of Wrong Approach South Dakota and that organization. After past claims that they would be South Dakota sourced with support now Melissa Mentele is calling on her Colorado, California and West coast marijuana industry friends for help. That is all South Dakota needs is predatory big marijuana aka big tobacco 2.0 to flood our media promoting, normalizing and commercializing drug use. Hey! She wants to have her piece of the pie too and cash in. Desperation!

    1. …”our media promoting, normalizing and commercializing drug use.”

      Well, so much for the Budweiser Clydesdales.

      1. well sir I’d like hanging vs lethal injection….what a dumbargument…well its not as bad as this other thing–yeah they will both harm you but you are deflecting that DOPE is bad also

  2. I wonder if Mentele is going to have the same meltdown when she loses again and blames all the people who helped her for not being committed enough. A heavy pot user is leading their group into the breach, and they wonder why she is a little unbalanced and not getting any positive results? Her efforts are a microcosm of what is wrong with marijuana addiction…endless failure resultant from cyclical half-efforts and psychotic burnouts. It might be hard finding volunteers considering her track record of treating them and intentionally manipulating them with bogus signature numbers, but anything to prop up the sham, right? Just another revenue stream for Mentele.

  3. Absolutely the last thing SD needs. We can all see what it did to Colorado. No thanks.

      1. In Colorado trained doctors and nurses must stand by helplessly as a parent administers CBD and/or THC-A and/or THC if they opt to use alternatives to modern medicine. As little as we know about CBD, we know almost nothing about THC-A, and giving THC to a kid is simply doping them up as high they can fly. Using your child as some sort of lab rat for your views on pot legalization is akin to child abuse. This is one of the many problems you will get with “medical” pot in South Dakota…modern-day witch doctors lurking around intensive care units administering their magical oils because hospital staff cannot remove them or their drugs. In Colorado a healthcare professional cannot even legally touch oils brought in by a caregiver. It isn’t science to assume that every chemical isolated in a pot plant is some how good for you or a miracle cure. We are just starting to understand the long term damage THC does to a developing child’s brain, and they are administering THC to kids in intensive care units. A pot-based healthcare system is a step backward into the Dark Ages before empirical science.

        1. I agree Spencer. Doctors should choose treatments regardless of what patients and parents think. It’s not for patients to say what kind of medicine they use. Parents should have no voice in this.

          2. What a dumb response

            No use taking to real medical professionals.. smh

      2. 55 percent increase in DUIs

        45 percent increase in juvenile use

        Shall I go on… on and I am quoting an Obama study

        2. Well that’s just bunk.

          “A federal study published last month in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse used the results of an anonymous survey given to more than 800,000 high school students across 45 states to calculate the number of teens who smoke cannabis. It found that the number of teenage cannabis smokers was 1.1 percent less in states that had enacted medical cannabis laws compared to those that hadn’t”

          https://www.boulderweekly.com/features/weed-between-the-lines/cannabis-use-drops-among-colorado-teens/

          Cite your sources rather than going from your hazy memory.

  4. This pot pushing group and past ones here in South Dakota is a perfect example of what has been going on nationally. These groups in South Dakota show what drug use does to their brains. Look at NASD,

    Last time repeated unprofessional behavior with one of their leaders getting signatures wearing some animal outfit that was very sexually revealing standing on a street corner or highway trying, walking parades and going everywhere to get signatures for weed. The messaging that sends is bad on many levels.

    Crazy paranoid accusations thrown out that someone was stalking them and will come to steal their kids.

    The wild anything goes healing claims based on junk science many times funded by the marijuana industry. The EPA has been warning companies to stop.

    The side drama. The big talk claims and threats. Always the victim, They never did anything to contribute to what happened. The manipulation.

    Let’s get these people some help and into treatment. Great stories out there with gifted and bright individuals that are in recovery from using marijuana.

      1. Exactly… Europe has many more studies than the bs being pushed in the us

        Pot usage greatly increases the chance of developing
        Schizophrenia

        2. …only if you’re genetically ‘at risk’ to begin with – and then only if you’re a heavy/early user. Jury’s really still out on that, so keep spreading misinformation, Chicken Little.

      2. I take that as sarcasm. If I am correct in my understanding, I agree alcohol has ruined many good lives and ended many good lives. Why would you want to add another drug to make things even worse?

          1. Nice deflection. By you’re logic all drugs should be legalized. We have enough problems with alcohol and there is no dispute as to how destructive alcohol is. We don’t need to add more drugs to the mix but instead invest in public poicy options to reduce all drug use across the board.

  5. If they have no money now to get on the ballot how do they run a campaign to pass it…. getting on the ballot will mean little if it is defeated soundly

    This is like campaigning 101

  6. Predictably the head of Wrong Approach South Dakota copied and pasted the comments here on DWC and is using them in a desperate plea for money . Always plays the victim card. What a scam.

  8. The war on drugs has been an incredible success for SD and the nation. Its kept our glorious state almost free of meth and pot. We should lock drug users up and throw away the key. If you disagree with this your not a real republican.

    1. alternatively we should make it more available so that more children use it, we have more people n the roads and DUIs , we build more and more generations of lazy losers by further dumbing down the country with a legion of potheads, then we can pay all the healthcare costs for years and years to come!

      THAT WILL BE AWESOME DUDE! THAT WOULD BE THE COOLEST!

      1. Exactly right. I read one study that proved nearly 100% of people would smoke marijuanas if it was legal. SD would literally become a schizophrenic zombie state if medical marijuana was legal. It might help a few people but they are about to die anyhow so they aren’t missing much.

  9. A great article. Many low information voters who understandably are busy with their lives often think legalizing recreational or recreational Marijuana sold as medical as the weed from the 60s or 80s which was about 3% THC. Today’s weed is 20% to 30% in flower/plant form and up to 99% THC in dab/wax/ concentrate form which is like crack weed for that ever greater high. It is not uncommon to read about house butane hash explosions in states that legalized with people trying to make their own dabs. Marijuana vs alcohol not even a comparison and the article covers that.

    https://amgreatness.com/2016/09/25/lie-travels-comparing-alcohol-marijuana/?fbclid=IwAR3VeLiyw1br0ulEpn3-ru70AqvYGanByjH0ssfLFZCpAakHkAU3HS9jUhI

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