South Dakota Senate Passes Resolution Calling for Prayer — While Cannabis Policy Still in Flux

South Dakota Senate Passes Resolution Calling for Prayer — While Cannabis Policy Still in Flux

By Reverend Jason Karimi | WeedPress | February 4, 2026

This week, the South Dakota Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 604 — a non-binding call urging residents of the state to “return to the Lord Most High” and observe a month of prayer and fasting. The resolution is symbolic, affirming religious sentiments but not creating any new laws or directly impacting state policy.

While that particular resolution grabbed headlines on social media and drew reactions on Reddit and other forums, the attention of our community here at weedPress is naturally drawn to what’s happening with cannabis and hemp in Pierre — especially given South Dakota’s long, often contentious history with cannabis law reform.

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🌿 Cannabis Law in South Dakota: A Quick Reality Check

South Dakota’s relationship with cannabis has been anything but straightforward:
• The state technically legalized medical marijuana in 2020 after voters approved a ballot initiative, and that program went into effect mid-2021.
• Recreational marijuana — backed by voters via a 2020 constitutional amendment — was struck down in court for violating the state’s single-subject rule.
• In 2022, voters rejected a separate ballot measure to legalize recreational use.

That means that right now, recreational cannabis legalization still hasn’t taken hold — and state lawmakers continue to be the ones deciding how substances related to cannabis and hemp are regulated.

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📊 Legislature Debates Hemp THC & Kratom — Cannabis Implications

Amid the religious resolution in the Senate, another issue has been quietly unfolding that directly impacts cannabis and hemp interests.

The South Dakota Senate Health and Human Services Committee recently advanced bills that aim to ban intoxicating hemp-derived THC products — such as delta-8 edibles and similar non-medical products — as well as kratom. These proposals were sent forward without a recommendation after hearings where industry voices warned the restrictions could force shops to pull inventory or shutter operations.

However, when the full Senate debated these measures, lawmakers voted down efforts to discuss a ban outright — meaning there’s still no prohibition law yet, but the ideas haven’t been dismissed either.

For many in the cannabis community, this is a familiar pattern: legislators are wary of unregulated cannabinoids, but industry advocates push back, arguing consumers have a right to access these products and that prohibition hurts small businesses and farmers alike.

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🗳️ What This Means for Cannabis in South Dakota

Here’s a big picture view:

✅ Medical Marijuana is Legal
• South Dakota residents with qualifying conditions can access medical cannabis.

⚖️ Recreational Legalization has not succeeded
• Multiple ballot efforts have failed or been struck down.
• Future attempts could return to the ballot or be negotiated through the legislature.

• Advocates motivated by personal financial upside rather than durable coalition-building failed to effectively and competently engage in grassroots organizing leading to a slaughter at the final vote tally, where legalization lost by double digit points after the South Dakota vote. Opposition massively outmaneuvered and outfunded legalization advocates, and the financial failure of advocates was made worse with public personal attacks against possible donors leading to division disunity and bad blood between real leaders, fake leaders, and documentarians.

🧪 Hemp and Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids are Under Scrutiny
• Lawmakers are debating whether intoxicating hemp products should be available at all.
• Industry stakeholders are pushing back hard, citing jobs, tax revenue, and consumer choice.

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📌 Why This Matters to the Weed Community

Even if a resolution like Senate Concurrent Resolution 604 doesn’t directly impact cannabis laws, it does reflect the cultural and political landscape in Pierre — one where social and moral issues often intersect with questions about personal freedom and substance policy.

South Dakota is a conservative state where cannabis reform advocates face an uphill battle. But medical cannabis remains legal, and conversations around hemp THC, cannabinoids, and broader cannabis policy continue to evolve in 2026.

If you’re invested in cannabis reform, this legislative session is worth watching — not just because of symbolic resolutions, but because of the substantive policy debates taking place behind the scenes that could shape the future of hemp and cannabis products here.

Full Resolution: “A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the people of the state of South Dakota to return to the Lord Most High, the Almighty and Uncreate, and plead for His mercy upon the state.

WHEREAS, we know that from the earliest days of the United States, the men and women who worked to build up our nation trusted in the all-powerful and most merciful hand of Providence to bless our land and guide their work with His wisdom; and

WHEREAS, we know that these men and women founded the United States upon the Judeo-Christian values articulated by Sacred Scripture, among which are the beliefs that government is established by God to safeguard the rights of the members of the community over which it watches, that we are to love our neighbors as we ourselves have each been loved by God, and that each human person has been created in the image and likeness of God; and

WHEREAS, we hold, as John Adams wrote to the Massachusetts Militia on October 11, 1798, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”; and

WHEREAS, Article VIII, § 1 of the South Dakota Constitution affirms that the health of a state depends on the virtue of its people; and

WHEREAS, the official motto of the State of South Dakota is “Under God, the People Rule”; and

WHEREAS, we hold that only a continual submission to the sovereignty of the Almighty and wholly Righteous God, joined with an unyielding commitment to uphold the principles of the Constitutions of the United States and the State of South Dakota, will allow us to protect the liberties that have been given to us by the Almighty, from all forces that are intent on advancing an agenda that seeks to turn us away from rightly loving God and our neighbors; and

WHEREAS, we give thanks to the omnipotent Lord of all creation for the peace and prosperity that He has bestowed upon us, for we confess that peace and prosperity are gifts from Him and that true peace and prosperity is found only in Him; and

WHEREAS, we acknowledge that, because of our fallen nature, these blessings of peace and prosperity are not experienced by everyone, and many people in this state continue to face significant challenges; and

WHEREAS, decisions that have been made by the federal government concerning our nation’s borders, foreign relations, economic regulations, and national debt threaten our institutions and our way of life; and

WHEREAS, exposing, resisting, and eliminating corruption from all levels of government is essential to maintaining the God-given liberty of all citizens; and

WHEREAS, acts of criminal violence in our communities are an affront to the inherent dignity of every individual; and

WHEREAS, human trafficking is an abhorrent evil perpetrated upon thousands of people in our nation and state, depriving them of their God-given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and

WHEREAS, addiction and mental illness overwhelm our state’s financial resources and healthcare and criminal justice systems and adversely affect our communities and families; and

WHEREAS, divorce rates and the unending and extensive demand for foster care reveal a fundamental brokenness in our society; and

WHEREAS, the foundation of a strong community begins with a commitment to strong, loving, families, in which is shown the profound and unconditional love of mother and father towards each other, their children, and their communities; and

WHEREAS, cultural forces are inviting us to turn a blind eye towards growing tendencies to embrace suicide, infanticide, and self-mutilation, each of which conflict with the truth that all men have been created in the image and likeness of God, and that, having been fearfully and wonderfully made by the Lord of Life, all men possess an inherent and inviolable dignity; and

WHEREAS, throughout the history of our nation, our leaders have repeatedly called upon the people to return to Almighty God in a spirit of humility and penance, and beg the Father’s favor and mercy; and

WHEREAS, in a proclamation calling for a time of national fasting, John Adams wrote, “As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God; and the national acknowledgement of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the People owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that Morality and Piety, without which social Happiness cannot exist nor the Blessings of a Free Government be enjoyed; and as this Duty, at all times incumbent, is so especially in seasons of Difficulty or of Danger, when existing or threatening Calamities, the just Judgements of God against prevalent Iniquity, are a loud call to Repentance and Reformation…Under these considerations it has appeared to me that the Duty of imploring the Mercy and Benediction of Heaven on our Country demands, at this time, a special attention from its inhabitants”; and

WHEREAS, without abdicating any responsibility for the actions that we take and acknowledging that the government of our state and nation have the responsibility to govern justly, we understand that none of our actions have the ability to come to a good end if the Lord does not favor and bless our undertaking; and

WHEREAS, we hold that “Vain is the builder’s toil, if the house is not of the Lord’s building; vainly the guard keeps watch, if the city has not the Lord for its guardian” (Ps. 127:1); and

WHEREAS, we join the psalmist’s prayer to our own and say “Let the glorious majesty of the Lord our God be upon us: prosper thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, prosper thou the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17);

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Senate of the One Hundred First Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the House of Representatives concurring therein, that each year, the month of July be recognized as a time of prayer and fasting in South Dakota; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that through our acts of prayer and fasting, we seek the continued blessings of the Lord Most High upon South Dakota, and affirm that He, as our Creator and God, the King of All Glory, holds all authority, both in Heaven and on earth, to judge and bless nations, states, and peoples as He sees fit; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that with a humble spirit and a contrite heart, we recognize our sins and our weaknesses, both individually and as a people, and beg Him for His forgiveness and His strength; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we ask the Lord Jesus to remove from us all corruption, violence, and addiction, to heal all hearts and minds, to restore marriages and fortify families, and to bring a righteous vision and a unity of purpose to all South Dakotans; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we ask the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and the Paraclete, to move within the halls of government, classrooms, businesses, places of worship, and homes of this state to bring to the people of the State of South Dakota a spirit of healing, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and temperance; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon all those who are physically able and spiritually inclined to join us annually during the month of July, for a time of prayer and fasting, depriving ourselves of those temporary physical comforts so that we may be awakened to our need and hunger for God, humbling ourselves before Him, prayerfully seeking His face, asking for His forgiveness, forsaking all wickedness, and begging Him to bestow His healing, blessing, grace, and mercy upon us, so that we, our communities, our state, and our nation will be transformed into a people fit to be His own.”