Lawmakers Block Bill to Shut Down South Dakota Medical Cannabis Oversight Committee

The South Dakota Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday voted 4-3 to reject a House-approved proposal to shut down the state Medical Cannabis Oversight Committee, according to a KELO report.

Voters established the oversight committee when they approved the state’s successful medical cannabis legalization ballot initiative in 2020. But the primary sponsor of House Bill 1160, state Rep. Tim Goodwin (R), said that the cannabis program’s oversight committee is no longer needed.

“We’ve implemented a successful medical marijuana program. At the time, we needed to have an oversight committee because this was new territory for us.” — Goodwin, via KELO

The House had voted 41-26 to advance the bill.

With the Senate committee’s vote so close, lawmakers could try to procedurally force the bill to the Senate floor for a vote next week, the South Dakota Searchlight reports.

Meanwhile, another South Dakota medical cannabis proposal introduced this year would have repealed the program entirely if cannabis were moved to Schedule III under federal law.