South Dakota Bill To Eliminate Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee Fails In Senate Panel

The House had already passed the legislation, which could be revived by the full Senate.

By Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight

The committee that oversees South Dakota’s medical marijuana program should continue its work for at least another year, a panel of state senators decided. But the full Senate could have the final say.

A bill that would repeal the sections of state law that established the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee was rejected 4-3 in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee earlier this week, but a procedural effort is already underway to force it to the Senate floor next week. The bill passed the House of Representatives earlier, 41-26.

Current law requires the Legislature’s Executive Board to appoint an 11-member committee made up of two senators, two representatives,and seven non-legislative stakeholders from an array of backgrounds, including medicine, law enforcement, counseling and at least one patient.

The committee must meet at least twice a year and make recommendations to the Legislature and the Department of Health.

The medical marijuana program itself would continue if the bill had passed, under the regulation of the state Department of Health.

Rep. Tim Goodwin, R-Rapid City, introduced the bill. He said the committee made sense when the state was setting up the program after voters approved it in 2020, but that it has since become an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy. He said the Department of Health and the Legislature are equipped to manage the program going forward.

The legislation comes amid friction between the oversight committee and the medical marijuana industry. In November, the committee approved 11 motions, primarily calling for tighter regulations, without publishing them in advance or taking public comment on each motion.

The South Dakota Catholic Conference, South Dakota Sheriffs’ Association and the oversight committee’s current chair, Rep. Josephine Garcia, R-Watertown, all testified against the bill. Opponents said the oversight committee is a watchdog the public wants in place, and that the committee’s concerns have not yet been addressed.

“We also have not determined, actually, the mental psychosis we’re now seeing, with cannabis use,” Garcia said. “Things that are being discussed are stress, anxiety, PTSD, which is not an indication for this type of cannabis use, and it has actually potentiated the mental psychosis.”

The state has 18,306 medical marijuana patient cardholders.

This story was first published by South Dakota Searchlight.