[420 Girl]

The South Dakota Legislature decided not to legalize medical marijuana earlier this year, but a new group is trying to bring it to a state-wide vote.

Emmett Reistroffer is outside the Minnehaha County Administration Building every day asking one question: Would you mind signing a petition real quick?

It's about legalizing marijuana in the state for people with cancer and other diseases.

“They're simply asking for protection from the state because right now, our law wants to send them to prison and they're not criminals. They're just seeking relief,” Reistroffer said.

Reistroffer's group, the South Dakota Coalition for Compassion, includes doctors, some law enforcement and volunteers.

“I think that this is a good thing. They should push and push and push it until it happens,” Annabelle Miller, who signed the petition, said.

Signing the petition doesn't mean you agree with legalizing marijuana; rather, that the people of South Dakota should vote on the issue. With enough signatures, that would happen in November 2010.

To get the initiative on the ballot, the coalition needs almost 17,000 signatures on these petitions. If that happens and the measure passes, South Dakota would join 14 other states in having some form of legalized marijuana.

“I think we'll get our signatures long ahead of time,” Reistroffer said.

So far, they've collected more than 5,000.

“It's important to me. There are people in my family who have suffered and could have used medical marijuana to help relieve their suffering,” Tony Ryan, who volunteers with the group, said.

“It would make a big difference. It would help those poor people. They need help with their pain,” Miller said.

But before that can happen, organizers have their work cut out for them.

Opponents say the measure would create more problems for law enforcement. South Dakotans voted on the issue in 2006 but it failed by 4 percent. The group has until next April to collect enough signatures.

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