Lawmakers in South Dakota voted to reject legislation that would have made it harder to become a medical marijuana patient.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 5 to 2 yesterday to defer any action on Senate Bill 82. The measure was filed last week by Senator Jim Mehlhaff along with 14 cosponsors.
The proposed law would have forced those seeking a medical marijuana authorization to obtain it exclusively through their primary care physician or a healthcare provider recommended by their primary physician. The legislation would have imposed criminal penalties on doctors who recommended medical marijuana to someone who they are not a primary physician for.
“Passage of the measure would have greatly restricted patients’ access to medical cannabis since many primary practitioners are either uncomfortable speaking with their patients about medical cannabis or work for HMOs that disallow them to do so”, says NORML, who lobbied against the measure. “In some cases, patients lack primary care providers and receive their medical care through clinics.”
South Dakota voters overwhelmingly voted to legalize medical marijuana in 2020. Since then, lawmakers have continuously sought to repeal the law, or greatly limit it.
State data shows that there are currently over 13,000 registered medical marijuana patients in South Dakota, with over 250 practitioners approved to issue medical marijuana authorizations.
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