PIERRE, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) The South Dakota House Health and Human Services Committee rejected a complete repeal of the state’s medical marijuana program on Tuesday before approving narrower changes to patient identification requirements.
The committee voted 7-6 to kill House Bill 1101, which would have dismantled the voter-approved medical cannabis system, before passing House Bill 1124 on a 9-4 vote.
“When you promote something as a medicine and say there’s no bad side effects, it’s perfectly harmless, kids are going to try it,” the bills’ sponsor, Rep. Travis Ismay, R-Newell, said during testimony.
One legislator was concerned that medical marijuana dosages are not standardized.
“I don’t know the exact number of concentrations,” Rep. Les Heinemann, R-Flandreau. “But we have concentrations that are 40 and 50% THC now.”
At least one medical marijuana supporter on the committee was unhappy with the anti-marijuana bills.
“The theme of the bills that we’ve seen are meant to cripple the medical marijuana industry. Period,” Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, R-Sioux Falls, said.
HB 1124 would require patients to possess state-issued cards to raise medical necessity as a legal defense. Industry representatives argued this could criminalize legitimate medical use.
