SD House bill would restrict pop-up medical cannabis clinics

PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) - Consultations to obtain certification for medical marijuana would have to take place in medical facilities under a bill passed by the South Dakota House Thursday.

HB 1172 aims to stop so-called “pop-up clinics” held in hotel rooms and other locations.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Fred Deutsch of Florence, who has sponsored several bills restricting medical cannabis this session, said the bill was necessary to protect patients.

“Voters (in 2020) didn’t say allow “pop-up clinics,”' he said on the House floor. “Where is it people go to see their doctor? They go to the doctor’s office.”

Deutsch alleges that “pop-up clinics” have been held in bars, strip clubs, and hotel rooms.

He says if a medical marijuana dispensary wants to provide an ad hoc clinic, it must do so in a medical facility, such as a doctor’s office, a hospital, a dentist’s office, a clinic, or a similar facility.

Deutsch says the marijuana dispensary could rent the same from the medical facility.

Currently, the bill does not address how home-bound or people in hospice in their homes could obtain medical cannabis.

Deutsch says the Senate will offer an amendment to provide for that.

The measure passed 47 to 21.

It now goes to a Senate committee for consideration.