Cannabis Scorecard

We grade every legislator in Pierre

The 2022 Cannabis Scorecard

After last year’s legislative session, we released our 2022 South Dakota Legislature Cannabis Scorecard! We analyzed each legislator's voting record on cannabis policy for over 68 different votes and assigned each legislator a grade. We produced the Scorecard with our allies at CIASD and New Approach South Dakota.

COMING SOON: 2023 Scorecard

We will be releasing our 2023 Cannabis Scorecard very soon – our goal is to enable South Dakota voters to hold politicians accountable on cannabis policy. Check back here for our newest scorecard or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

How to read the scorecard:

Columns M through CB show individual votes on bills. At the top of each column, there are rows showing:

  • The date of the vote (Row 2);

  • The original bill number (Row 3);

  • The version of the bill that was voted upon (Row 4);

  • The chamber or committee that was the venue for the vote (Row 5);

  • The position that South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws and its allies took on the bill (Row 6);

  • The final voting results of the bill (Row 7);

  • The outcome from the perspective of South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws and its allies – voting results highlighted in green show outcomes that aligned with our position while votes highlighted in orange show outcomes that did not align with our position (Row 8);

  • The “Impact Score” (Row 9), which is a subjective assessment (on a scale of 1-5) of each bill determined by South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws and its allies (1 is the smallest impact and 5 being the greatest impact).

The “Cannabis Score” (Column I) is calculated based on the “Impact Score” of each vote. If the legislator voted with our position (Row 6), then the legislator was awarded a positive number of points equal to the Impact Score.

If the legislator opposed our position (Row 6), then the legislator was awarded a negative number of points equal to the Impact Score.

The “Cannabis Grade” (Column K) correlates to thirteen equal intervals of the range of scores.