Governor Kristi Noem wants to place some limits on parts of a voter-passed law legalizing medical marijuana in South Dakota.
Noem is proposing some changes to Initiated Measure 26. Those changes include limiting the number of cannabis plants allowed in a cannabis patient’s home to three. It also prevents anyone under the age of 21 from smoking or vaping medical pot.
The implementation of medical marijuana is still July 1st.
The Republican leader in the Senate says the proposal is a starting point for discussions.
Democrats agree. Senator Troy Heinert says a special session seems likely.
“We should have taken the 40 days that we were in Pierre and worked on that issue,” Heinert says. “We just didn’t. We got to the end and they tried to rush something through that completely went against the will of the voter and on the Senate side that wasn’t going to fly. I think we should just honor the will of the people, institute the program and if we need to make changes next year, in January, that’s when we do it.”
Republican Governor Noem wanted the legislature to delay implementation of the program, which passed overwhelmingly in November, by a year so a committee could study the issue. The Senate rejected that push.
In a letter to lawmakers, Noem acknowledged Monday is the last legislative day of the year and says the changes are necessary to successfully implement a medicinal program.
