Sioux Falls City Council passes temporary medical marijuana “pause” ordinance

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) -Medical marijuana is set to become legal in South Dakota in 16 days. Right now, many cities are deciding on how they’ll manage the drug within city limits, including Sioux Falls. At Tuesday’s city council meeting the second reading for a “pause ordinance” for medical marijuana passed 6 to 1.

This “pause” ordinance essentially puts a temporary pause on Sioux Falls putting any marijuana regulations in place until the state releases its own rules. This allows the city to be able to refuse applications for permits or licenses for marijuana establishments come July 1st.

Instead, the city will wait on the South Dakota Department of Health to release regulations, which must be done before November.

Ned Horsted is Executive Director of the cannabis industry association of South Dakota. It’s a group of business owners and entrepreneurs working towards setting up the cannabis industry in South Dakota.

“Businesses and you know, local entities will be able to have a jump start if they have an ordinance that allows them to move forward with zoning and building permits and the things that they are going to need to do to get their business off the ground. That said, Sioux Falls is obviously the largest market in the state. So it’s important that they do this correctly,” said Horsted.

So what comes next? Councilor Greg Neitzert says the city council will work on coming up with medical marijuana regulations for the city. These will be introduced through ordinances such as zoning laws and smoking regulations.

Councilor Pat Starr urges those interested in the medical marijuana industry to get involved in the conversation.

“We have a joint task force with the two counties in the city of Sioux Falls that will be meeting here in the next week. We have notices of state meetings that will be done from the department of health. Be part of that process, be part of all of these processes,” said Starr.

The ordinance goes into effect Saturday.

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