South Dakota lawmakers are divided on allowing home cultivation in the state’s medical cannabis program, with some moving to ban it and others voting to allow qualified patients to grow up to three plants, according to a South Dakota Public Broadcasting report.
The state’s voter-approved medical cannabis initiative, which passed in November 2020, includes provisions that allow patients to grow a minimum of three plants at home, the news outlet reported.
However, the South Dakota Legislature’s Medical Marijuana Subcommittee recommended in September that the state should ban home cultivation.
Rep. Fred Deutsch (R-Florence) has introduced legislation to prohibit patients from growing cannabis at home, and his bill has cleared the House State Affairs Committee in a 10-3 vote, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported.
Deutsch’s bill may hit opposition in the South Dakota Senate, however, as that chamber’s Health and Human Services Committee has approved legislation that would allow patients to grow up to three plants at home.
Home cultivation could ultimately end up in a conference committee between the House and Senate, according to South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
