South Dakota Bill To Eliminate Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee Fails In Senate Panel

The House had already passed the legislation, which could be revived by the full Senate.

By Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight

The committee that oversees South Dakota’s medical marijuana program should continue its work for at least another year, a panel of state senators decided. But the full Senate could have the final say.

A bill that would repeal the sections of state law that established the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee was rejected 4-3 in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee earlier this week, but a procedural effort is already underway to force it to the Senate floor next week. The bill passed the House of Representatives earlier, 41-26.

Current law requires the Legislature’s Executive Board to appoint an 11-member committee made up of two senators, two representatives,and seven non-legislative stakeholders from an array of backgrounds, including medicine, law enforcement, counseling and at least one patient.

The committee must meet at least twice a year and make recommendations to the Legislature and the Department of Health.

The medical marijuana program itself would continue if the bill had passed, under the regulation of the state Department of Health.

Rep. Tim Goodwin, R-Rapid City, introduced the bill. He said the committee made sense when the state

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