South Dakota’s medical cannabis card programme has almost doubled the number of cards granted since it began in 2021.
At a recent meeting of the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee, where the organisation discussed board members and general rules, Medical Cannabis Program Administrator Jennifer Seale highlighted that the original projections estimated that by year three of the programme, the state would have issued around 6,000 patient cards.
However, the number of cards issued – which cost $75 and $25 for those who meet hardship criteria – currently stands at nearly 12,000.
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Seale stated: “… at the end July 1, it was 11,437. We’re even higher than that now. We are probably closer to 12. So we have doubled the amount we were projecting to see in three years, within a year-and-a-half, two years.”
Seale also highlighted that the programme has an expenditure of around $1.2m each year – with majority of revenue for 2023 coming from patient cards. This rasies future challenges as there will be a point of saturation of patient cards, when the programme will not be brining in as much revenue as it has done previously.
The South Dakota medical cannabis programme is expected to see another round of proposed rule changes this year. While no hearing date has yet been set, Seale suggested it should be by next month.
Such rule changes include adjustments to allowable quantity of cannabis a patient can have, clarifycation of use of scales when wheighing product, adding definitions for additives and terpenes, clarifying that nos ales should occur anywhere except ina dispensary, removing the exemption that prerolls need testing before sale and adding expiration and use dates to labelling requirements, among others.
