Medical marijuana implementation on schedule in South Dakota

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - The state of South Dakota is set to legalize medical marijuana effective July 1 with an even faster timeline than originally thought.

Governor Kristi Noem, along with some members of the state legislature, had hoped to stall the implementation of voter-approved Initiated Measure 26 that legalized medical cannabis.

HB 1100 would have allowed for more time before medical marijuana becomes officially legal, but the bill died in the legislature on Thursday.

Representative Mike Derby serves on what’s known as the ‘cannabis caucus’ in the legislature and said that the state is in a good position to implement IM 26 on schedule.

“We’ve got $4 million allocated for the state of South Dakota to implement and help the Department of Health and Department of Revenue implement this,” Derby said. So, the money is in place.”

Derby said that the state is consulting with a national firm to create the best set of practices for implementation.

He said that it’s now the duty of the state government to put the will of the voters to work.

”Over 70% of people voted for medical marijuana and we as a vast majority of the legislature, the Senate and House, want to abide by that.”

Derby adds that while the law goes into effect at the beginning of July, more work will need to be done after that to regulate.