A South Dakota bill to effectively repeal the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis law was voted down by the House Health and Human Services Committee on a 7-6 vote, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports. The legislation was introduced by state Rep. Travis Ismay (R), who has argued the state’s medical cannabis program is effectively full cannabis legalization.
“I’m sure many of you are asking yourself, ‘why would you do this? It was the will of the people.‘ Well, quite frankly, we need to get something cleared up. We need to know the difference between medical and recreational marijuana.” — Ismay via SDPB
State Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt (R), the committee member who introduced the motion to kill the bill said that while he understands his colleague has “some concerns about the way the medical marijuana program is composed,” he suggested Ismay go to the committee that oversees the program, which he said has already “made several changes over the years and attempts to really compromise and make things better for all parties.”
“There is an ability for all parties to come to the table,” Rehfeldt said during the meeting, “but this is just too extreme.”
In 2020, South Dakota voters approved an adult-use bill, but the reforms were tossed by the state Supreme Court on a technicality. In 2022 and 2024, voters in the state rejected adult-use reforms.
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