Should homegrown marijuana be legal for cardholders in South Dakota? Lawmakers are divided

Should South Dakotans with medical marijuana cards be able to grow cannabis at home?

That question has state legislators in the House and Senate divided again over the new medical cannabis law that went into effect last summer.

Initiated Measure 26, the voter-approved ballot measure that legalized medical cannabis in South Dakota, didn't put for a cap on the number of plants a medical marijuana cardholder could grow in their place of residence.

And while neither chamber of the Legislature appears content to let that stand, the House and Senate are far apart on how much tinkering of the new law is necessary.

More: Can lawmakers break through gridlock over marijuana policy in South Dakota?

"Anybody that has a card can grow under the current law. This bill proposal, this bill would prohibit that," Rep. Fred Deutsch said Monday before the state House passed House Bill 1004, which seeks to do exactly what the Florence Republican explained.

Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to volley over a bill of its own that instead called for a cap of three mature cannabis plants on allowed in-home cultivation.

A medical cardholder, under Senate Bill 24, could have any number of cannabis plants that are in their infancy and not yet to the life stage of producing THC-infused buds.

And while that's not what voters signed off on when 70% favored IM26 at the ballot box, the marijuana legalization advocates and the industry's lobby group in Pierre prefer the three-plant limit over an outright ban on homegrow.

Supporters of SB24 say the three-plant limit is a reasonable adjustment to existing marijuana policy on the books, which ensures affordable access to cannabis for qualifying residents while protecting against homegrown marijuana proliferating the black market.

From Sept. 2021: Push to ban homegrown medical marijuana and walk back IM26 moves ahead in Pierre

"It's our job as legislators to constantly try and improve legislation as long as it meets the will of the voters and I don't necessarily think the voters are disserviced by having a limit of three mature plants at a time," said Sen. Mike Rohl, the Aberdeen Republican behind SB24.

But without a complete ban on homegrown cannabis, Deutsch and his allies in the House say there's no stopping people who grow at home from profiting off their harvests. Not allowing in-home cultivation would also ensure medical card holders in South Dakota are purchasing their medical marijuana from licensed establishments, they say.

"We're in the very beginning stages of creating an industry of medical dispensary and eventually adult-use and these business people are investing billions of dollars across the state," said Rep. Mike Derby, R-Rapid City. "We need to give this industry a chance."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota lawmakers consider ban on homegrown medical marijuana