At last night’s (Aug. 17, 2021) Pierre City Commission meeting, staff rolled out the city’s plan for regulating medical marijuana, through three separate draft ordinances.
Ordinances covered zoning within city limits and in the extra-territorial area surrounding Pierre, as well as licensing.
Within city limits, the draft ordinance allows the city to license up to three medical marijuana dispensaries. None can be located within 1,000 feet of any school, public or private, accredited by the South Dakota Dept. of Education. Each can operate between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. any day of the week.
The city will also allow one testing lab, one cultivation facility, and one manufacturing facility within city limits; the cultivation and manufacturing facilities can only be located in industrial zones.
“We have been working on this ordinance for months to find a good balance between access, safety, and security,” said City Finance Officer Twila Hight.
Each type of medical marijuana facility requires a $5,000 annual local application fee. Those eligible for a facility license must be at least 21, have no felony record, have never had a medical marijuana license revoked by the State of South Dakota, be in good standing with the city, and be licensed with the state.
Staff also spoke to the extra-territorial land surrounding Pierre. Working together with Hughes County, the two governments determined to disallow any sort of medical marijuana facilities within a three-mile buffer outside of city limits.
“We run into some jurisdictional issues in the extra-territorial,” said Hight. “The city and county both agree that it’s best to keep the facilities outside of that area.”
The zoning ordinance for medical marijuana establishments in city limits and the zoning ordinance for establishments in extra-territorial land will each have a second reading and a public hearing at the Aug. 31 Pierre City Commission meeting. The licensing ordinance will have its second reading at the Aug. 31 meeting as well.
To review the draft ordinances, visit cityofpierre.org.
The State of South Dakota has no interest or intent to establish any form of legalization of medical or recreational marijuana. I reference an article which appeared in the Custer County Chronicle on July 14, 2021 authored by SD State Senator Julie Frye-Mueller entitled “Your guns or pot? The choice is yours”. Her comments in the article flatly state that pursuant to existing federal law marijuana is illegal to possess regardless of form or intent in SD. If a person is confronted by law enforcement while in possession of marijuana, whether represented as medical sanctioned or not, it will be recovered and sent for testing and the case referred to the SD Attorney General for prosecution. A medical card is deemed only an excuse to use marijuana recreationally.
In turn, if you possess any firearms on your person or at home, whether purchased or as a gift or as inheritance, they will be taken from you. You cannot have a concealed weapons permit AND a medical marijuana card. South Dakota circumvents your 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and smoking pot is NOT a qualifying issue within this Amendment to deny your right to bear arms. SD is not going to recognize any County or Municipal jurisdiction establishing medical marijuana dispensaries and citizens using such facilities are subject to arrest, prosecution, and jail. In further, medical cards and specifically VA Medical Cards have a “search” capability by law enforcement. If you happen to carry a legal firearm in your vehicle, and it is revealed or discovered in a routine traffic stop, law enforcement can search to see if you maintain a doctor’s medical card or VA medical card citing medical marijuana. If they find one, they can come to your home and confiscate all firearms found in the home or vehicles. This stance will dramatically affect a majority of SD citizens and especially veterans. You can draft all the ordinances you want but state law enforcement and the state highway patrol will continue to stand on federal law until marijuana is legalized nationally. Knowing SD, I would believe even then they will continue arbitrary enforcement for possession and use, medical or recreational.