SD medical marijuana rules coming, Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County say

With the state proposed rules for medical marijuana now outlined of the South Dakota Department of Health say Sioux Falls and Minnehaha Counties say they expect to have their own rules in place later this year.

Although medical marijuana is now legal in the state of South Dakota, “the average person here in the city of Sioux Falls is not going to change anything,” said Greg Neitzert, councilor and member of the IM-26 task force.

That’s because the state has until September 29 to make its rules and regulations official, and the Sioux Falls City Council and Minnehaha County Commission have already enacted ordinances that state applications for medical marijuana facilities will not be taken into account until this point in time.

The Lincoln County Commission will review a similar bill on July 6th that will add a framework to the county’s own rules on medical marijuana.

With that in mind, Neitzert said the joint task force, which consists of members from all three legislative bodies – as well as Erica Beck, Mayor Paul TenHaken’s chief of staff – works on the assumption that October 4th will be the date by which they should have all of their ordinances in place.

At least for the city council, so Neitzert, they want to work it out in July and bring it as a package to the necessary planning and council meetings in August and September.

“It’s a tight schedule,” said Neitzert, adding that he expects the next two task force meetings, scheduled for July 7th and July 21st at 8:30 am in the downtown library, to focus on these decisions become.